1951 Topps Blue Back #21 Billy Johnson
About Billy Johnson
Johnson played 108 games in 1950, his fewest since coming back from the Army in 1946, and hit .260 with 6 home runs and 40 RBI as the Yankees fought off the Red Sox and Tigers for the pennant. He appeared in all four games of the World Series sweep of the Phillies but started only Game Three. On May 14, 1951, with rookie Gil McDougald taking over at third base, New York sent him to St. Louis for first baseman Don Bollweg and cash. He hit .262 in 124 games for the Cardinals, with a career-high 14 home runs, all of them hit in St. Louis.
Billy Johnson was a right-handed third baseman who played nine major league seasons, 1943 and 1946 through 1953, for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals. Joe McCarthy handed him the job at the 1943 Yankees camp, and he hit .280 with 94 RBI in all 155 games, finishing fourth in the American League MVP voting. In that year's World Series he drove in the deciding runs of Game Three with a bases-loaded triple off Al Brazle. He then spent 1944 and 1945 in the Army, serving in Europe on a mortar crew. Back with the Yankees, he was an All-Star in 1947, when he batted .285 with 95 RBI and hit three triples in the World Series. He won four championship rings with the club. Teammates called him Bull for his power. He finished with 964 games, a .271 average, 61 home runs and 487 RBI, and later worked as a shipping supervisor in Augusta, Georgia, where he died on June 20, 2006.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 138 | 0 | 16 | 32 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 42 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
Team card: Team card St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- Red Back #7 Howie Pollet
- Red Back #47 Tommy Glaviano
- Blue Back #6 Red Schoendienst
- Blue Back #7 Gerald Staley
- Blue Back #14 George Munger
- Blue Back #28 Harry Brecheen
- Blue Back #30 Enos Slaughter
- Connie Mack's All-Star Grover Cleveland Alexander
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Blue Back #21 card?
It is Blue Back #21 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Billy Johnson of the St. Louis Cardinals.
How many cards are in the 1951 Topps Baseball set?
135 cards across five issues - the Red Backs and Blue Backs (52 each), nine Team cards, and eleven each of Connie Mack's All-Stars and the Major League All-Stars. With the Zernial and Holmes variations and both versions of each Team card the master set is 146. All 135 count toward the full set; Jim Konstanty, Robin Roberts and Eddie Stanky, the three rarest Major League All-Stars, are so rarely seen that collectors often count a complete set as 132 without them.
Sources: PSA, BaseballCardPedia, Trading Card Database, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-26.