1951 Topps Blue Back #41 Johnny Schmitz
About Johnny Schmitz
Schmitz lost 16 games in 1950 and finished 10-16 with a 4.99 ERA for a Cubs club that came in seventh. He had been 8-3 as late as June 25, then lost nine of his last 10 decisions. On April 30 he went 13 innings in St. Louis and lost 1-0 on a solo home run by Del Rice, with Harry Brecheen throwing a complete game for the Cardinals. He also threw two shutouts in May.
Johnny Schmitz was a left-handed starting pitcher who pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 1941 to 1951, then moved through the Dodgers, Yankees, Reds, Senators, Red Sox and Orioles before his last game on September 7, 1956. He debuted at 20 on September 6, 1941, and went 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA in five games that fall. Navy service in the Pacific kept him out of the majors from 1943 through 1945, and in 1946 he made the All-Star team, led the National League with 135 strikeouts and posted a 2.61 ERA. In 1948 he won 18 games with a 2.64 ERA, was again an All-Star and finished 12th in MVP voting. The Cubs traded him to Brooklyn on June 15, 1951, in an eight-player deal built around Andy Pafko. With Washington he went 11-8 with a 2.91 ERA in 1954. He finished 93-114 with a 3.55 ERA, then lived in Wausau, Wisconsin, where he worked as a golf course greenskeeper.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 142 | 0 | 28 | 38 | 17 | 15 | 21 | 23 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 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 Chicago Cubs cards:
- Red Back #14 Wayne Terwilliger
- Blue Back #17 Roy Smalley
- Blue Back #27 Andy Pafko
- Blue Back #49 Hank Sauer
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Blue Back #41 card?
It is Blue Back #41 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Johnny Schmitz of the Chicago Cubs.
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.