1961 Topps #561 Charley James
About Charley James
James's 1961 Topps card, #561, sits in the set's seventh series - a high number. The season behind it was his first full one: he opened it in a three-way scramble with Don Landrum and Don Taussig for outfield work, then platooned in right with the left-handed-hitting Joe Cunningham. He wound up starting 50 games in right and 32 in left, usually batting sixth, and was still hitting .300 as late as July 23 before settling at .255 with four home runs and 44 runs batted in over 108 games. St. Louis thought enough of him to protect him in the 1961 expansion draft.
Charles Wesley James was born December 22, 1937, in St. Louis, grew up in the suburb of Rock Hill, and graduated from Webster Groves High School. A football scholarship took him to the University of Missouri, where he was a halfback letterman in 1956 and 1957 and set a Mizzou record for pass receptions by a backfield player that stood 36 years. On January 6, 1958, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine signed him for a reported $15,000 bonus, costing him his senior college baseball season; James enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis to finish an electrical engineering degree. He was Texas League Rookie of the Year at Double-A Houston in 1958 and an International League All-Star at Triple-A Rochester in 1959, and debuted for St. Louis on August 2, 1960. A right-handed outfielder listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, he batted .255 with 358 hits, 29 home runs and 172 runs batted in over 510 games and six seasons, and won a World Series ring in 1964. St. Louis writers dubbed him Chop-Down Charley for chopping at pitches to make contact rather than waiting on walks; he drew only 48 in his career. He later served as president of Central Electric Company in Fulton, Missouri, retiring in 1998.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 498 | 1 | 45 | 241 | 124 | 57 | 17 | 11 | 2 |
| SGC | 40 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 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 #561 card?
It is card #561 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Charley James of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Why is #561 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.