1958 Topps #87 Johnny Kucks
About Johnny Kucks
Johnny Kucks appears on 1958 Topps #87 as a New York Yankee, in the first series of the 494-card set. The card follows a 1957 season of 8-10 and a 3.56 ERA in 37 games, 23 of them starts, a step down from the 18-9 year in which he shut out the Dodgers 9-0 in Game 7 of the 1956 World Series, the last Series game at Ebbets Field.
Johnny Kucks was a right-handed sinkerball pitcher, born in Hoboken and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he pitched at William L. Dickinson High School before signing with the New York Yankees in 1952. He won 20 games for Class B Norfolk that summer, spent 1953 and 1954 in the Army, then jumped straight to the Yankees out of spring training in 1955 and went 8-7 as a rookie. His big year was 1956: 18-9 with 12 complete games and three shutouts, plus a place on the American League All-Star team, though he never got into the game. That October he shut out the Brooklyn Dodgers 9-0 at Ebbets Field in Game Seven of the World Series to clinch the title, his sinker producing ground ball after ground ball, and struck out Jackie Robinson to end it. A second ring followed in 1958. In May 1959 the Yankees traded him, Tom Sturdivant and Jerry Lumpe to the Kansas City Athletics for Ralph Terry and Hector Lopez. His sinker flattened in 1960 and that season ended his major-league career at 54-56 with a 4.10 ERA, though he pitched on in the minors into 1963. He later worked as a stockbroker in New Jersey and entered the Hudson County Hall of Fame in 1992. He died in 2013 at 81.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 322 | 1 | 7 | 72 | 124 | 73 | 24 | 21 | 0 |
| SGC | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 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).
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Live auctions Buy It Now Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More New York Yankees cards:
- #9 Hank Bauer
- #20 Gil McDougald
- #20B Gil McDougald (Yellow Name)
- #43 Sal Maglie
- #54 Norm Siebern
- #61 Darrell Johnson
- #61B Darrell Johnson (Yellow Name)
- #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 Johnny Kucks card?
It is card #87 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 Johnny Kucks, New York Yankees.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Johnny Kucks #87 are there?
PSA has graded 322 copies and SGC 23 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.