1961 Topps #170 Al Smith
About Al Smith
Card #42 is a first-series League Leaders entry off the 1960 American League batting race, in which Pete Runnels of Boston finished first at .320 and Smith second at .315. Minnie Minoso and Bill Skowron round out the panel, and because Minoso was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, this card carries the set's Hall of Fame flag. There is a twist here: Smith came to Chicago in the December 1957 trade that sent Minoso to Cleveland, and by 1960 the two were White Sox outfield mates, Smith sliding to right so Minoso could have left. Card #170 is his own second-series White Sox card, from the summer he hit a career-high 28 home runs with 93 RBIs.
Alphonse Eugene Smith, nicknamed "Fuzzy" as a teenager for being the first of his friends to sprout a beard, was born February 7, 1928 in Kirkwood, Missouri. He signed with the Negro American League's Cleveland Buckeyes in 1946, joined the Cleveland Indians organization in July 1948, and reached the majors on July 10, 1953. Across twelve big-league seasons with the Indians, White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox he played six positions, mostly the outfield corners and third base, and finished with a .272 average and 164 home runs. He was the everyday leadoff man for the 1954 Indians team that won a then-American League record 111 games, and homered on the first pitch of Game Two of that World Series. In 1955 he batted .306, led the league with 123 runs scored, made the first of his two All-Star teams and placed third in the MVP voting. He reached a second World Series with the 1959 White Sox, where a fan's spilled beer in Game Two doused him and produced one of the sport's most reprinted photographs. Smith ran the Chicago park district's baseball program from 1966 through 1981, and was enshrined in the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. He is not a National Baseball Hall of Fame member. He died January 3, 2002.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 282 | 0 | 9 | 92 | 107 | 49 | 10 | 15 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Al Smith in this set: #42 League Leaders
Team card: #7 Chicago White Sox Team
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #30 Nellie Fox
- #56 Russ Kemmerer
- #79 Joe Ginsberg
- #90 Jerry Staley
- #124 J.C. Martin
- #132 Al Lopez
- #152 Earl Torgeson
- #157 Cal McLish
- #185 Herb Score
- #205 Bill Pierce
- #227 Juan Pizarro
- #247 Billy Goodman
- #271 Jim Landis
- #285 Sherm Lollar
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #170 card?
It is card #170 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al Smith of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-05.