1958 Topps #184 Elvin Tappe
About Elvin Tappe
Tappe opened 1958 with the Cubs, and his April 24 single broke a 3-3 tie against the Dodgers, by then playing in Los Angeles. He appeared in only 17 games, hitting .214, before going on waivers July 23 to join the coaching staff. His #184 card, in the third series of a 494-card set, shows him as a Cub.
Elvin Tappe was a catcher from Quincy, Illinois, who played 145 games for the Chicago Cubs across parts of six seasons between 1954 and 1962 and hit .207 with 17 runs batted in. He signed as a pro in 1947, moved into the Yankees organization in 1950 and was taken by the Cubs in the 1951 minor-league draft. Never a power threat, he made his living behind the plate; by his own account he would not have reached the majors without strong defense. Tappe joined the Cubs' coaching staff in July 1958 and later claimed the idea for owner Philip Wrigley's College of Coaches, in which coaches took turns as head coach. He led the club for stretches in 1961 and 1962 and finished with a 46-70-1 record. He then kept working for the Cubs as a coach, minor league manager and scout, about 28 years with the organization in all. After baseball he ran a sporting goods store in Quincy, where he died in 1998.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 216 | 0 | 9 | 84 | 72 | 25 | 17 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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 Elvin Tappe card?
It is card #184 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 Elvin Tappe, Chicago Cubs.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Elvin Tappe #184 are there?
PSA has graded 216 copies and SGC 10 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.