1958 Topps #31 Tex Clevenger
About Tex Clevenger
Tex Clevenger's 1958 Topps card is #31, from the first series of the 494-card set, and it is catalogued as his rookie card, showing him with the Washington Senators. That season he went 9-9 with a 4.35 ERA and six saves, and his 55 appearances led the American League. Only four of them were starts, and he later pointed to a triple that year as the highlight of his hitting career.
Truman Eugene "Tex" Clevenger was a right-handed pitcher from Visalia, California, signed by the Boston Red Sox out of Fresno State in June 1953 and immediately dominant for Class-C San Jose, where he went 16-2 with a 1.51 ERA and led the California League in both wins and earned run average. He reached the majors with Boston in April 1954, then spent five seasons (1956-1960) in the Washington Senators bullpen, leading the American League with 55 appearances in 1958 and throwing a four-hit shutout over Detroit on September 14, 1959. The Los Angeles Angels took him seventh overall in the December 1960 expansion draft, and a trade that May sent him to the New York Yankees, where he was a two-time World Series champion with the 1961 and 1962 clubs without ever pitching in either Series. His nickname came from Boston teammate Johnny Pesky, who thought he resembled former Red Sox pitcher Tex Hughson, though Clevenger never played in Texas. Over eight big-league seasons he went 36-37 with a 4.18 ERA and 361 strikeouts. He later worked as an insurance underwriter in Visalia and ran Clevenger Ford in Porterville with his wife until the mid-1990s. He was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987, and he died on August 24, 2019, at 87.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 279 | 1 | 13 | 85 | 98 | 40 | 22 | 20 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 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 Tex Clevenger card?
It is card #31 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 Tex Clevenger, Washington Senators.
Is the 1958 Topps Tex Clevenger #31 a rookie card?
Yes - #31 is a rookie card, one of 103 in the 1958 Topps set.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Tex Clevenger #31 are there?
PSA has graded 279 copies and SGC 11 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.