1961 Topps #433 Art Mahaffey
About Art Mahaffey
Card #433 lands in the fifth series and looks back at a half-season debut: called up in the summer of 1960, Mahaffey went 7-3 with a 2.31 ERA in 14 games and finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting behind winner Frank Howard. The trick that got him noticed was his pickoff move, and the first three baserunners who reached against him in the majors were all picked off. In the season this card was issued he struck out 17 Cubs in a single game, matching Dizzy Dean's National League mark for a day game.
Arthur Mahaffey Jr. was born June 4, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a father who had boxed professionally as a teenager. He pitched for Western Hills High School and for Joe Hawk's powerhouse Bentley Post American Legion club, and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on June 29, 1956, for a $4,000 bonus. Four and a half seasons in the farm system followed before he reached the majors on July 30, 1960. A tall right-hander with a three-quarter delivery and a famously quick pickoff move, he became the ace of a dreadful Phillies staff almost at once, made the National League All-Star team in both 1961 and 1962, and set a club record with 17 strikeouts in a game. He hurt his arm early in 1962, pitched 274 innings anyway, and said later that he never felt right again. Philadelphia traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1965 season, and he finished a seven-year career at 59-64 with a 4.17 ERA, 46 complete games, nine shutouts and 639 strikeouts in 999 innings.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 405 | 3 | 46 | 215 | 110 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 23 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #433 card?
It is card #433 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Art Mahaffey of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.