1951 Topps Blue Back #43 Willie Jones
About Willie Jones
Jones opened 1950 with home runs that decided games. On April 26 a three-run shot tied Brooklyn, though the Phillies lost 5-4 in the 10th; the next day he hit a first-inning grand slam off Preacher Roe in a 9-2 win. On May 3 he hit two against the Cubs. He played third base in all 157 games, and in the July 11 All-Star Game at Comiskey Park he went 1 for 7, a record seven plate appearances, in the National League's 4-3 win in 14 innings.
Willie Edward Jones, nicknamed "Puddin' Head" after a 1933 novelty song, was a right-handed-hitting third baseman whose 15 big-league seasons ran from 1947 to 1961. Born in Dillon, South Carolina and raised in Laurel Hill, North Carolina, he was signed out of semipro ball and reached Philadelphia in September 1947. From 1949 through the middle of 1959 he was the Phillies' everyday third baseman, and his best year came with the 1950 National League champion Whiz Kids: career highs of 25 home runs, 88 RBIs, 100 runs and 163 hits, then a .286 World Series against the Yankees, who swept Philadelphia in four games. He was an All-Star in 1950 and 1951. Defense was his calling card - he led National League third basemen in fielding percentage every season from 1952 through 1958 except 1957, led them in putouts seven times, and finished at .963 for his career. The Phillies traded him to Cleveland on June 6, 1959, the Indians sold him to Cincinnati on July 1, and he spent his last season and a half with the Reds before they released him in May 1961. He batted .258 with 190 home runs and 812 RBIs in 1,691 games, and is honored on the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 152 | 0 | 14 | 43 | 12 | 16 | 25 | 42 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 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 Philadelphia Phillies
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- Red Back #45 Andy Seminick
- Blue Back #3 Richie Ashburn
- Blue Back #4 Del Ennis
- Blue Back #8 Dick Sisler
- Blue Back #29 Granville Hamner
- Blue Back #51 Eddie Waitkus
- Major League All-Star Jim Konstanty
- Major League All-Star Robin Roberts
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Blue Back #43 card?
It is Blue Back #43 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Willie Jones of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.