1951 Topps Red Back #43 Maurice McDermott
About Maurice McDermott
McDermott pitched in 38 games for Boston in 1950, 15 of them starts, and went 7-3 with a 5.19 ERA over 130 innings, striking out 96. His 5 saves were the most of any season of his career. At the plate he hit .364, 16 hits in 44 at-bats, with 12 RBI. From 1950 through 1952 he filled his nights with singing dates at Steuben's in Boston and Grossinger's in the Catskills, and his record over those three seasons was 25-20.
Mickey McDermott was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who also hit well enough to collect 9 home runs and a .252 average over 12 major league seasons with the Red Sox, Senators, Yankees, Athletics, Tigers and Cardinals. Boston signed him at 15 after his father altered his birth certificate; the father received a $5,000 bonus and two truckloads of Ballantine ale. He threw a no-hitter for Scranton on July 14, 1946, and on May 24, 1949 struck out 20 St. Paul Saints for Louisville, an American Association record. His best year came with Boston in 1953, when he went 18-10 with a 3.01 ERA. On December 9, 1953 the Red Sox sent him and Tom Umphlett to Washington for Jackie Jensen. He pitched for the Yankees in 1956 and appeared in that year's World Series. He finished 69-69 with a 3.91 ERA and 757 strikeouts, sang in nightclubs during his career, and died in Phoenix on August 7, 2003.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 288 | 1 | 53 | 68 | 32 | 36 | 60 | 38 | 0 |
| SGC | 35 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 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 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- Red Back #4 Verne Stephens
- Red Back #10 Mel Parnell
- Red Back #20 Dominick DiMaggio
- Red Back #42 Ray Scarborough
- Red Back #46 Billy Goodman
- Blue Back #5 Johnny Pesky
- Blue Back #37 Bobby Doerr
- Major League All-Star Walt Dropo
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Red Back #43 card?
It is Red Back #43 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Maurice McDermott of the Boston Red Sox.
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.