1951 Topps Red Back #24 Hank Bauer
About Hank Bauer
Casey Stengel platooned Bauer in right field in 1950, often pairing him with Gene Woodling in left; the two were close friends, and each believed he belonged in the lineup every day. Bauer answered with a .320 average, up from .272 as a rookie, along with 13 home runs and 70 RBI in 113 games for a club that finished 98-56, three games ahead of Detroit. His sacrifice fly in the sixth inning of Game Four made it 5-0 in the clincher of the sweep of the Phillies, New York's second straight World Series title.
Hank Bauer played right field for Casey Stengel's Yankees from 1948 through 1959 and later managed Baltimore to its first World Series title. The youngest of nine children in East St. Louis, Illinois, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1942 and fought in the Pacific with the 4th Raider Battalion and the 4th Marines, taking shrapnel on Guam and again on Okinawa; he came home with two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts and 11 campaign ribbons. Yankee scout Danny Menendez signed him in 1946, and he reached New York in September 1948. He started in right field for the American League in the 1952, 1953 and 1954 All-Star Games, won seven World Series with the Yankees and hit safely in 17 straight World Series games from 1956 to 1958, a Series record. His bases-loaded triple broke a tie in the 1951 clincher against the Giants. Traded to Kansas City after the 1959 season in the deal that sent Roger Maris to New York, he managed the Athletics, the Orioles and the Oakland A's across eight seasons, swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series and won two Sporting News Manager of the Year awards. Time put him on its September 11, 1964 cover as "Old Potato Face." He died February 9, 2007, in Lenexa, Kansas.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 303 | 0 | 29 | 71 | 24 | 44 | 63 | 72 | 0 |
| SGC | 45 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 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
More New York Yankees cards:
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- Red Back #5 Phil Rizzuto
- Red Back #6 Allie Reynolds
- Red Back #18 Gerry Coleman
- Blue Back #10 Joe Page
- Blue Back #35 Tommy Byrne
- Blue Back #39 Ed Lopat
- Blue Back #50 Johnny Mize
- Connie Mack's All-Star Lou Gehrig
- Connie Mack's All-Star Babe Ruth
- Major League All-Star Yogi Berra
- Major League All-Star Phil Rizzuto
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Red Back #24 card?
It is Red Back #24 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Hank Bauer of the New York Yankees.
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.