1951 Topps Red Back #16 Preacher Roe
About Preacher Roe
Brooklyn lost the 1950 pennant to the Phillies on the final day, and Roe's 19-11 record matched Don Newcombe's. His 3.30 ERA was the best on the staff over 250.2 innings, with 125 strikeouts, and he was an All-Star. He also gave up 34 home runs, tied for the league lead, the price of a pitcher who said he would rather risk a homer than a walk.
Preacher Roe was a left-handed pitcher who won 127 games for the Pirates and Dodgers, with a 3.43 ERA over 1,914.1 innings. He pitched one game for St. Louis in 1938, spent five seasons in the Cardinals' farm system, and was traded to Pittsburgh in September 1943, debuting there in 1944. In 1945 his 148 strikeouts led the National League. A fractured skull from a fight with a referee at a high school basketball game in February 1946 cost him his fastball, and he went 4-15 in 1947. Brooklyn acquired him on December 8, 1947, and he rebuilt himself as a control pitcher who changed speeds and threw a spitball, which he described in a 1955 magazine article. He made five All-Star teams and won 22 games in 1951. His 1949 World Series start was a six-hit 1-0 shutout of the Yankees. After his last season in 1954 he ran a grocery store in West Plains, Missouri, where he died on November 9, 2008.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 351 | 1 | 54 | 84 | 31 | 53 | 39 | 89 | 0 |
| SGC | 63 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 36 | 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 Brooklyn Dodgers
More Brooklyn Dodgers cards:
- Red Back #11 Gene Hermanski
- Red Back #31 Gil Hodges
- Red Back #38 Duke Snider
- Blue Back #20 Ralph Branca
- Blue Back #42 Bruce Edwards
- Blue Back #48 Billy Cox
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Red Back #16 card?
It is Red Back #16 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Preacher Roe of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
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.