1951 Topps Blue Back #44 Johnny Wyrostek
About Johnny Wyrostek
Wyrostek was hitting .332 on June 30, 1950, which earned him a spot on the National League All-Star team as a reserve outfielder; he pinch-hit for Jackie Robinson at Comiskey Park on July 11. He hurt an ankle sliding home five days later, hit only .238 the rest of the way, and finished at .285 with 8 home runs and 76 RBIs. On September 4 he drove in eight of the Reds' 13 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals.
Johnny Wyrostek was a left-handed-hitting outfielder who played 11 seasons in the majors between 1942 and 1954 for the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, and was an All-Star in 1950 and 1951. The Cardinals signed him after a three-day tryout in 1937, when he was a student at East St. Louis Central High School. He hit .114 in nine games for Pittsburgh in 1942, then served as a corporal in the 10th Armored Division and earned two battle stars. Sold to the Phillies in 1946, he became their everyday center fielder and hit .281 in 145 games. Philadelphia traded him to Cincinnati for shortstop Eddie Miller before 1948, and his 17 home runs that year were almost 30 percent of his career total of 58. The Reds sent him back to the Phillies in May 1952 for pitcher Bubba Church. He was released in April 1955 with 1,149 hits and a .271 average in 1,221 games. In Fairmont City, Illinois, he worked as a deputy sheriff and a union carpenter, then won five terms as mayor starting in 1967 and was still in office when he died in 1986.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 147 | 0 | 19 | 43 | 9 | 12 | 35 | 29 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Blue Back #44 card?
It is Blue Back #44 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Johnny Wyrostek of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.