1958 Topps #229 Frank Zupo
About Frank Zupo
Zupo's 1958 Topps card, #229, comes from the third series, shows him with the Baltimore Orioles and is a rookie card. It is the card behind the unibrow fame that has outlasted his stats. The season itself was mostly spent in the minors at Knoxville, Wilson and Louisville, with one September Orioles game, a hitless two at bats in relief of Gus Triandos.
Frank Zupo was a left-handed-hitting catcher from San Francisco who played 16 major league games for the Baltimore Orioles across 1957, 1958 and 1961. He signed with Baltimore the day after graduating from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in 1957 and went straight to the majors at 17 as a bonus baby, without a day in the minors. His teammates named him Noodles because his name sounded like soup. On July 1, 1957 he caught George Zuverink in his debut, and the pair are believed to be the only all-Z battery in big league history. He collected the first of his three hits that August and remains the youngest modern Oriole to hit safely. Back in the minors he caught wild fireballer Steve Dalkowski with a one-leg-out squat that became known in the organization as The Frank Zupo. He played in the minors through 1964. Fans remember him for his bushy unibrow as much as for his stats.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 272 | 0 | 6 | 98 | 106 | 37 | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 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 Frank Zupo card?
It is card #229 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 Frank Zupo, Baltimore Orioles.
Is the 1958 Topps Frank Zupo #229 a rookie card?
Yes - #229 is a rookie card, one of 103 in the 1958 Topps set.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Frank Zupo #229 are there?
PSA has graded 272 copies and SGC 15 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.