1958 Topps #207 Solly Hemus
About Solly Hemus
Card #207 in the 1958 Topps set, from Series Three, shows Solly Hemus with the Philadelphia Phillies, who had acquired him from St. Louis in May 1956. It reports a thin 1957: 70 games, a .185 average and 108 at-bats, 24 of those games at second base. On April 22 he was lifted for pinch runner John Kennedy, the Phillies' first Black player, in Kennedy's major league debut.
Solly Hemus was a scrappy, left-handed-hitting infielder who spent eleven big league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, batting .273 with 736 hits and 51 home runs. He grew up in San Diego and served four years in the Navy during World War Two before signing with the Cardinals organization in 1946, Brooklyn having released him in spring training. He broke in at St. Louis in 1949 and took over as the regular shortstop and leadoff man in 1951, making a career out of crowding the plate: he led the National League in times hit by a pitch three times. His best season was 1952, when he led the league with 105 runs scored and drew 96 walks while playing the aggressive, combative style he modeled on manager Eddie Stanky. St. Louis writer Bob Broeg nicknamed him Mighty Mouse. Late in his playing days, Cardinals owner August Busch named him player-manager for 1959, remembering a thank-you letter Hemus had written after being traded away. He managed St. Louis into July 1961 and finished 190-192; Bob Gibson and Curt Flood both said he told them they would not make it. He coached for the Mets and Indians, and was ejected 30 times as a player and manager.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 223 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 93 | 44 | 25 | 12 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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 Solly Hemus card?
It is card #207 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 Solly Hemus, Philadelphia Phillies.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Solly Hemus #207 are there?
PSA has graded 223 copies and SGC 7 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.