1958 Topps #46 Lou Sleater
About Lou Sleater
Sleater began 1958 in the Detroit bullpen, allowing runs at a 6.75 ERA in four games before the Orioles bought him on June 2. He finished 1-0 with a 10.22 ERA in ten relief outings, and his last big-league game came on September 28. His #46 card, with Detroit, sits in the first series of the 494-card set, where a yellow-name printing exists beside the common white lettering.
Lou Sleater was a left-handed pitcher, born in St. Louis and raised in Baltimore, who reached the majors with his hometown Browns in 1950 and finished with the Baltimore Orioles in 1958. A three-sport star at Mount Saint Joseph High School, he signed with the Boston Braves out of high school, then bounced through the Cubs and Giants systems before the Browns claimed him on waivers. Mostly a reliever and a knuckleball specialist, he pitched for six major-league clubs in seven seasons. In 1952 he threw his only big-league shutout for Washington. His bat was a bonus: he hit .204 for his career with four home runs, including a game-ending homer for Detroit on May 30, 1957. He went 12-18 with a 4.70 ERA over 131 games. He died in Timonium, Maryland, in 2013.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Variations & how to tell them apart
Yellow Name (YN) #46
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).
- #46 — base card: the lettering is printed in WHITE — the base, more common version. (this page)
- #46B — 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 | 227 | 0 | 3 | 51 | 94 | 49 | 13 | 17 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 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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Related cards
More Lou Sleater in this set: #46B Yellow Name
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #13 Billy Hoeft
- #13B Billy Hoeft (Yellow Name)
- #32 J.W. Porter
- #32B J.W. Porter (Yellow Name)
- #46B Lou Sleater (Yellow Name)
- #57 Tim Thompson
- #57B Tim Thompson (Yellow Name)
- #70 Al Kaline
- #70B Al Kaline (Yellow Name)
- #81 Steve Boros
- #81B Steve Boros (Yellow Team)
- #95 Frank Bolling
- #112 Gus Zernial
- #115 Jim Bunning
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Lou Sleater card?
It is card #46 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 Lou Sleater, Detroit Tigers.
Does the 1958 Topps Lou Sleater #46 have a yellow variation?
Yes - #46 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 Lou Sleater #46 are there?
PSA has graded 227 copies and SGC 16 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.