1958 Topps #234 Carl Sawatski
About Carl Sawatski
Card #234 in the 1958 Topps set, a 494-card issue, shows Sawatski with the Milwaukee Braves in print series 3. It looks back at his 1957 season as the third catcher behind Del Crandall and Del Rice on the pennant winners: .238 with 6 home runs and 17 RBI in 58 games. His World Series work was two pinch-hitting turns against the Yankees.
Carl Ernest Sawatski (1927-1991) was a left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing catcher who played eleven big-league seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals between 1948 and 1963. A self-converted catcher and prodigious minor-league slugger, he led four different leagues in home runs over his first five pro seasons and picked up the nickname "Swish" for the sound of his bat. He stuck for good with the pennant-winning 1957 Braves, pinch-hitting twice in their seven-game World Series win over the New York Yankees and striking out both times. A classic pull hitter kept as a backup catcher and pinch-hitter, he fit St. Louis best: over four years there the short right field at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, the old Sportsman's Park, helped him bat .316 with 25 home runs at home against .193 on the road. He retired with 58 home runs, 213 RBIs and a .242 average in 633 games, then ran the Arkansas Travelers as general manager and served as Texas League president from 1976 until his death in 1991, earning the Warren Giles Award in 1987. He entered the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 235 | 0 | 12 | 79 | 84 | 35 | 19 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 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
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #10 Lou Burdette
- #17 Felix Mantilla
- #30 Hank Aaron
- #30B Hank Aaron (Yellow Name)
- #51 Del Rice
- #78 Ernie Johnson
- #78B Ernie Johnson (Yellow Name)
- #83 Bob Hazle
- #110 Johnny Logan
- #117 Frank Torre
- #140 Wes Covington
- #147 Don McMahon
- #164 Bob Taylor
- #176 Bob Buhl
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Carl Sawatski card?
It is card #234 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 Carl Sawatski, Milwaukee Braves.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Carl Sawatski #234 are there?
PSA has graded 235 copies and SGC 17 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.