1951 Topps Red Back #50 Monte Irvin
About Monte Irvin
Irvin started 1950 back at Jersey City of the International League and hit his way out in 18 games, batting .510 with ten home runs before the Giants recalled him. In New York he hit .299 with 15 home runs and 66 RBI in 110 games, his first full season in the majors at 31, and he split the work between first base, 59 games, and the outfield, 49. That season set him up for 1951, when he played 112 games in the outfield and led the National League with 121 RBI.
Monte Irvin was an outfielder and first baseman for the New York Giants who reached the major leagues at 30, after a Negro league career in which most black players thought he, rather than Jackie Robinson, should have been the first to cross the color line. He batted .422 and .396 for the Newark Eagles in 1940 and 1941, won a Mexican League triple crown in 1942 with a .397 average and 20 home runs, and then spent three years in the Army in England, France and Belgium. Back with Newark in 1946, he hit .462 with three home runs as the Eagles beat the Kansas City Monarchs in a seven-game Negro League World Series. The Giants paid $5,000 for his contract in 1949, and he played for them through 1955 before finishing with the Chicago Cubs in 1956, with a major-league line of .293, 99 home runs and 443 RBI in 764 games. Leo Durocher asked him to look after the rookie Willie Mays in 1951. In 1968 Commissioner Bowie Kuhn hired him for the commissioner's office, which made Irvin the first black executive in professional baseball. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, primarily on his Negro league record, and died in Houston on January 11, 2016, at 96.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 568 | 1 | 50 | 124 | 62 | 65 | 118 | 147 | 1 |
| SGC | 206 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 21 | 142 | 1 |
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 New York Giants
More New York Giants cards:
- Red Back #21 Larry Jansen
- Red Back #32 Henry Thompson
- Red Back #37 Wes Westrum
- Red Back #41 Whitey Lockman
- Red Back #48 Eddie Stanky
- Connie Mack's All-Star Christy Mathewson
- Major League All-Star Eddie Stanky
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Red Back #50 card?
It is Red Back #50 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Monte Irvin of the New York Giants.
Is 1951 Topps Red Back #50 a rookie card?
Yes - Red Back #50 is the rookie card of Monte Irvin.
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.