1961 Topps #198 Carl Sawatski
About Carl Sawatski
Topps put Sawatski at #198 in the 1961 set, a third-series number - he had been in the big leagues since 1948. The card came out during the best season of his career: .299 with a .517 slugging percentage, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 174 at-bats for a fifth-place St. Louis club. His 10 homers were more than the rest of the Cardinals' catchers managed combined, and as a pinch-hitter he went 11-for-39 with four of those home runs.
Carl Ernest Sawatski (1927-1991) was a left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing catcher who played eleven big-league seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals between 1948 and 1963. A self-converted catcher and prodigious minor-league slugger, he led four different leagues in home runs over his first five pro seasons and picked up the nickname "Swish" for the sound of his bat. He stuck for good with the pennant-winning 1957 Braves, pinch-hitting twice in their seven-game World Series win over the New York Yankees and striking out both times. A classic pull hitter kept as a backup catcher and pinch-hitter, he fit St. Louis best: over four years there the short right field at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, the old Sportsman's Park, helped him bat .316 with 25 home runs at home against .193 on the road. He retired with 58 home runs, 213 RBIs and a .242 average in 633 games, then ran the Arkansas Travelers as general manager and served as Texas League president from 1976 until his death in 1991, earning the Warren Giles Award in 1987. He entered the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 342 | 3 | 40 | 181 | 87 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #347 St. Louis Cardinals Team
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #11 Curt Simmons
- #32 Ray Sadecki
- #52 George Crowe
- #64 Alex Grammas
- #75 Lindy Shows Larry
- #91 Walt Moryn
- #118 Chris Cannizzaro
- #127 Ron Kline
- #139 Solly Hemus
- #148 Julian Javier
- #178 Bob Nieman
- #211 Bob Gibson
- #232 Bill White
- #241 Al Cicotte
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #198 card?
It is card #198 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Carl Sawatski of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.