1958 Topps #271 Billy Martin
Uncorrected error (per Beckett): back misstates Martin's 1953 World Series hit total (a record 12; Beckett notes 12 hits in the '53 WS/not 2). It was never corrected, so there is only one version of the card.
About Billy Martin
Billy Martin appears as a Detroit Tiger on 1958 Topps #271, a Series Four card in the 494-card set. It follows a turbulent 1957: he hit .251 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI in 116 games, was traded away by the Yankees after the Copacabana brawl, finished the year with Kansas City, then went to Detroit on November 20 in a trade that left him livid.
Billy Martin broke in with the New York Yankees on April 18, 1950 and became Casey Stengel's scrappy second baseman on four world championship clubs, batting .333 across five World Series. He was the hitting star of the 1953 Series, tying a record with 12 hits and breaking Babe Ruth's mark with 23 total bases; the Babe Ruth Award went to him as the best player in the Series, the World Series MVP trophy not being created until 1955. Two years in the Army cost him 1954 and most of 1955, and his lone All-Star selection came in 1956. A brawl at the Copacabana nightclub in May 1957 gave general manager George Weiss his opening, and Martin was traded to Kansas City that June, then bounced through Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Minnesota before retiring with a .257 average and 64 home runs over 11 seasons. He scouted and coached for the Twins, then managed Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, Oakland and, in five separate stints, the Yankees, winning the 1977 World Series. The firings, most of them by George Steinbrenner, never stopped; he was killed when his truck went off an icy road on Christmas night 1989.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 909 | 0 | 13 | 152 | 218 | 209 | 138 | 178 | 1 |
| SGC | 177 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 33 | 24 | 42 | 64 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Billy Martin card?
It is card #271 of the 1958 Topps Baseball set - Topps' sixth flagship issue: 494 cards numbered 1-495 (#145 was never issued), with die-cut player photos on solid-color backgrounds and the first team logos on Topps fronts. It pictures Billy Martin, Detroit Tigers.
What is the error on the 1958 Topps
Per Beckett it is one of the set's 11 uncorrected errors (UER): back misstates Martin's 1953 World Series hit total (a record 12; Beckett notes 12 hits in the '53 WS/not 2). It was never corrected, so there is only one version and no error premium.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Billy Martin #271 are there?
PSA has graded 909 copies and SGC 177 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot. Population is a scarcity guide, not a price - high-grade 1958s are notoriously tough because of the set's chronic centering and print-quality issues.
How many cards are in the 1958 Topps set?
494 issued cards, numbered 1-495 - #145 (Ed Bouchee) was pulled before release and never issued, leaving a permanent gap. The PSA master census counts 534 items: the 494 base cards plus 33 yellow-letter variations, 4 numerical checklist-back team cards, the 'Herrer' #433 error, and 2 unnumbered ad cards.
Sources: PSA CardFacts, Beckett, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research (Topps Archives, 2026). Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-09-30.