1958 Topps #61 Darrell Johnson
About Darrell Johnson
Topps #61 is a first-series card of a Yankees reserve catcher. Johnson made the club out of spring training in 1957 under Casey Stengel, appearing in 21 games and hitting .217 with his first big-league home run, off Virgil Trucks, and eight RBI. The card exists in the common white-name printing and a scarcer yellow-name lettering variation. In 1958 he played just five games, hitting .250.
Darrell Dean Johnson was born in Horace, Nebraska on August 25, 1928, but grew up in California. A reserve catcher, he appeared in parts of six major league seasons between 1952 and 1962 for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles. A Browns scout signed him after the 1949 California state amateur tournament, and he climbed through the minors as a right-handed hitting, right-handed throwing catcher with a well-regarded arm. He credited his double-jointed thumbs with keeping that throwing hand healthy, telling The Sporting News in 1955 that a foul tip usually knocked a thumb out of joint and he could snap it back. He batted .234 with 75 hits, two home runs and 28 runs batted in across 134 games. His best stretch followed an August 1961 sale to Cincinnati, where he caught the pennant-winning Reds down the stretch and then played in the World Series against the Yankees. Baltimore released him as a player in June 1962, and he turned to coaching, scouting and managing, most famously taking the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant and winning The Sporting News Manager of the Year award. He later managed the expansion Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac
Variations & how to tell them apart
Yellow Name (YN) #61
Nineteen Series 1/early-2 cards exist with the player name printed in yellow instead of white, including stars Aaron (#30), Kaline (#70) and McDougald (#20).
- #61 — base card: the lettering is printed in WHITE — the base, more common version. (this page)
- #61B — Yellow Name: the player name is printed in YELLOW — the scarcer version, roughly 2-2.5x tougher than white per PSA populations. — see the card page
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 347 | 0 | 10 | 115 | 118 | 56 | 27 | 21 | 0 |
| SGC | 30 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
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 Darrell Johnson in this set: #61B Yellow Name
More New York Yankees cards:
- #9 Hank Bauer
- #20 Gil McDougald
- #20B Gil McDougald (Yellow Name)
- #43 Sal Maglie
- #54 Norm Siebern
- #61B Darrell Johnson (Yellow Name)
- #87 Johnny Kucks
- #101 Bobby Richardson
- #101B Bobby Richardson (Yellow Name)
- #127 Tom Sturdivant
- #142 Enos Slaughter
- #150 Mickey Mantle
- #161 Don Larsen
- #175 Marv Throneberry
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Darrell Johnson card?
It is card #61 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 Darrell Johnson, New York Yankees.
Does the 1958 Topps Darrell Johnson #61 have a yellow variation?
Yes - #61 is one of the 33 cards that also exist with yellow lettering. This page covers the common white-letter version; the yellow version runs roughly 2-2.5x scarcer per PSA population data.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Darrell Johnson #61 are there?
PSA has graded 347 copies and SGC 30 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.