1961 Topps #512 Bob Will
About Bob Will
Owner P.K. Wrigley launched his College of Coaches in 1961, and the shuffling did Will no favors: George Altman settled in as the regular right fielder and Will started only 13 games all season. He worked off the bench instead, and his 52 pinch-hitting appearances led the National League while he batted .257 in 86 games. That fall he served as an outfield instructor for the Cubs' Arizona Instructional League club, and he spent the offseason as an executive trainee with the Wrigley gum company. His 1961 Topps card, number 512, comes from the set's sixth print series and shows him with the Cubs.
Robert Lee Will, born July 15, 1931, in Berwyn, Illinois, and nicknamed Butch as a boy, was an outfielder who hit and threw left-handed and played all or parts of six seasons for the Chicago Cubs between 1957 and 1963. A three-sport star at Morton High School in Berwyn, he played baseball at Northwestern University and then at Mankato State Teachers College, signing with the Cubs in May 1954 and finishing his degree in 1955. He hit .333 lifetime in the minor leagues over 934 games and was named Most Valuable Player of the Triple-A American Association in 1959 with Fort Worth, batting .336 and leading that league in hits and runs scored. His only real run as a big-league regular came in 1960, when he started 110 games in right field and hit .255 with six home runs and 53 runs batted in. In his other Cubs seasons he worked mainly as a pinch-hitter, once leading the National League in pinch-hit appearances. He closed his major league career with 202 hits and a .247 average in 410 games, played two more minor league seasons, then retired in December 1964 and began a 29-year banking career. He died August 11, 2011, in Woodstock, Illinois.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 273 | 0 | 28 | 124 | 69 | 26 | 18 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #122 Chicago Cubs Team
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- #58 Joe Schaffernoth
- #88 Richie Ashburn
- #107 Seth Morehead
- #141 Billy Williams
- #169 Don Elston
- #196 Ed Bouchee
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- #231 Dick Drott
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #512 card?
It is card #512 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Will of the Chicago Cubs.
Why is #512 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
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.