1961 Topps #251 Bill Bruton
About Bill Bruton
Topps gave Bruton card #251 in its 1961 set, a third-series number that lands in the middle of the checklist, since Topps had been picturing him for years, including a 1954 issue. The Detroit uniform was the new part. Bruton's first American League summer turned into his busiest: 160 games, 596 at-bats, 99 runs scored, 22 stolen bases and a .257 average, with a career-high 17 home runs, five more than he had ever hit in a Milwaukee season.
Bill Bruton was a center fielder who reached the majors in 1953 at age 27 with the Milwaukee Braves, the year the franchise moved over from Boston. Blessed with exceptional speed, he led the National League in stolen bases in each of his first three seasons, and later added two triples titles and a runs-scored crown in 1960. He played on the pennant-winning 1957 and 1958 Braves, sitting out the 1957 World Series title run with a torn knee ligament and then starring in 1958, when his tenth-inning single won Game 1 and he batted .412 across seven games the Braves lost to the Yankees. In December 1960 Milwaukee traded him to the Detroit Tigers in a multi-player deal centered on Frank Bolling, and he closed a twelve-year career in Detroit from 1961 through 1964, finishing with a .273 average, 94 home runs, 545 RBIs and 207 stolen bases. His father-in-law was Judy Johnson, the Negro Leagues third baseman elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, whose counsel shaped his development. Bruton spent 23 years as a Chrysler executive after baseball and was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1991.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 268 | 0 | 16 | 138 | 56 | 30 | 18 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 #251 card?
It is card #251 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Bruton of the Detroit Tigers.
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.