1958 Topps #273 Hal R. Smith
About Hal R. Smith
Card #273 in the fourth series of the 1958 Topps set shows Hal R. Smith with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was the incumbent catcher in 1957, when he hit .279 in 100 games and made the National League All-Star team. He signed for $10,000 for 1958, a letdown of a year: his average dipped about 50 points and the Cardinals finished sixth. The other Hal Smith, a Kansas City Athletics catcher, has his own card at #257.
Harold Raymond Smith was a defense-first catcher who spent six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, from his 1956 debut until a heart ailment forced him off the field in June 1961. Born in Barling, Arkansas, on June 1, 1931, he never played high school or college baseball and learned the position in American Legion ball at Fort Smith before signing with a Cardinals scout in September 1948. What set him apart was his arm. Smith led National League catchers in runners thrown out stealing in both 1959 and 1960, and in caught-stealing percentage in 1960, and he made only 33 errors in his career. Tim McCarver, who took over the St. Louis job after him, later ranked him third among the greatest Cardinals catchers, praising his soft hands and saying pitchers loved throwing to him. A National League All-Star in 1957 and 1959, he finished at .258 with 437 hits and 23 home runs, and punished good pitching: .364 against Sandy Koufax, .373 against Johnny Antonelli. Cleared years later, he caught four more games for the 1965 Pirates as an emergency player-coach. He stayed in the game until 1997 as a coach, minor league manager and scout; Arkansas put him in its state Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He died in 2014.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 245 | 1 | 9 | 99 | 71 | 35 | 17 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 24 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Hal R. Smith card?
It is card #273 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 Hal R. Smith, St. Louis Cardinals.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Hal R. Smith #273 are there?
PSA has graded 245 copies and SGC 24 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.