1960 Topps #435 Gene Freese
Cards #375-440 were printed on two back stocks, white and gray. White is the scarcer of the two, and the difference is the tint of the cardboard on the reverse — it is a stock variation, not a design change, so both backs read identically.
About Gene Freese
Eugene Lewis Freese signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1953, and by 1955 he was in Pittsburgh full-time, splitting his rookie season between second and third base. That year brought him a nickname for life: after a heated ejection by umpire Augie Donatelli, Pirates teammates convinced the Forbes Field P.A. man that Freese's first name was "Augie," and it stuck. He also authored a famous gaffe that May, stopping to shake a teammate's hand mid-play and getting doubled off second - newspapers compared it to Fred Merkle's 1908 "boner." A journeyman dealt seven times over 12 seasons with the Pirates, Cardinals, Phillies, White Sox, Reds and Astros, Freese is pictured on his 1960 Topps card (#435) fresh off a trade to the White Sox, part of the set's Series 5 white/gray back-stock split, the white-back version scarcer. That winter Cincinnati acquired him, and in 1961 Freese posted career highs across the board as the Reds won the NL pennant, before a shattered ankle in 1962 spring training ended his prime.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 344 | 0 | 22 | 154 | 102 | 40 | 16 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-08-20. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Neither grader separates the white and gray back stocks on this card, so the counts below cover both. The Venezuelan issue, the 1960 Topps Tattoos and Bazooka are separate products and are not counted here.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1960 Topps #435 card?
It is card #435 of the 572-card 1960 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gene Freese.
Does #435 come with a white or a gray back?
Both. Cards #375-440 were printed on two back stocks and white is the scarcer of the two. Neither PSA nor SGC separates them in its population report, so the graded counts on this page cover both stocks together.
How many cards are in the 1960 Topps Baseball set?
572 cards, numbered 1-572, issued in seven series - the last Topps flagship printed entirely horizontally. Cards #375-440 exist on two back stocks, white and gray, which collectors chasing every printed variety count as 638 pieces of cardboard in all.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Cardboard Connection, the PSA price guide, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-08-20.