1958 Topps #212 Bubba Phillips
About Bubba Phillips
1958 Topps #212, a Series Three card, shows Bubba Phillips with the Chicago White Sox. In 1957 he became the club's starting third baseman, hitting .270 with 7 home runs and 42 RBIs in 121 games. A running back at Southern Mississippi, he dreamed of becoming a football coach, according to the card itself. His 1958 season was cut short when he broke his right foot tripping over first base on June 8, though he still hit .273 in 84 games.
John Melvin "Bubba" Phillips was a third baseman and outfielder, born in West Point, Mississippi on February 24, 1928, who spent ten seasons in the majors from 1955 through 1964 with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. A football standout at Macon High School and a team captain and Little All-America running back at Mississippi Southern College, he chose baseball over a professional football future with the San Francisco 49ers and signed with the Detroit organization in 1948, then spent 1953 and 1954 in the Army before reaching the big leagues in 1955. After early years as a reserve outfielder, he moved to third base with the White Sox in 1957 and stayed at the position, helping Chicago win the 1959 American League pennant and going 3-for-10 in a six-game World Series loss to the Dodgers. Traded to Cleveland that December, he had his best year in 1961, leading American League third basemen with 18 home runs. He closed out his career back in Detroit in 1963 and 1964 and retired with a .255 average, 62 home runs, and 356 RBIs in 1,062 games. Mississippi elected him to its Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 212 | 0 | 5 | 54 | 77 | 39 | 22 | 15 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 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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Related cards
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- #11B Jim Rivera (Yellow Team)
- #26 Ron H. Jackson
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- #50B Billy Pierce (Yellow Team)
- #56 Bill Fischer
- #85 Luis Aparicio
- #85B Luis Aparicio (Yellow Team)
- #100 Early Wynn
- #100B Early Wynn (Yellow Team)
- #108 Jim Landis
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Bubba Phillips card?
It is card #212 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 Bubba Phillips, Chicago White Sox.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Bubba Phillips #212 are there?
PSA has graded 212 copies and SGC 11 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.