1961 Topps #530 Bobby Malkmus
About Bobby Malkmus
Card 530 lands Malkmus in the seventh series, the 1961 high numbers, in a Phillies cap. The season behind it was the best of his career: 121 games for a club that lost 107, with 55 starts at second base, 16 at shortstop, and 10 at third, including long stretches covering an injured Tony Taylor in July and September. He batted .231 (79-for-342) with 31 runs batted in and seven of his eight career home runs, one of them a two-run shot off 40-year-old Warren Spahn on August 20. One writer gave him a vote for National League MVP, the only Phillie to draw any.
Robert Edward Malkmus (July 4, 1931 - February 23, 2025) was a slightly built 5-foot-9 infielder out of Newark, New Jersey, who earned a reputation for a big-league glove at second base, shortstop, and third base while never solving big-league pitching. Scouts passed on him at South Side High School, so he enrolled at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, where Boston Braves scout Honey Russell signed him in 1951; Navy service then cost him the 1952 and 1953 seasons. He debuted with the Milwaukee Braves on June 1, 1957, during a frantic midseason search for a second baseman, but a 2-for-22 start and the acquisition of Red Schoendienst ended the trial in under four weeks. Washington took him in the December 1957 Rule 5 draft, and Philadelphia took him the same way in November 1959. Deeply religious, he was called Preacher, Rev, and Deacon by teammates for always carrying a Bible. He hit .215 across parts of six seasons, managed nine years in the minors for the Phillies, Expos, and Orioles, and scouted for Cleveland beginning in 1980. Newark put him in its Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 412 | 0 | 27 | 170 | 125 | 49 | 29 | 11 | 1 |
| SGC | 26 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 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 #530 card?
It is card #530 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bobby Malkmus of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Why is #530 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-589) from the seventh and last print series - the scarce end of the set, including the 22 Sporting News All-Stars.
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.