1961 Topps #538 Chuck Hiller
About Chuck Hiller
His rookie card is #538, a high number out of the seventh-series high numbers, so the first card of his Topps run is also one of the scarcest. Hiller won the Giants' second base job in spring training and singled off Bob Friend in his April 11 debut, then went 0-for-21. A .292 June could not cover for his glove: three errors in four games sent him to Tacoma in July. He hit .324 there, returned in September, and closed at .238 with two homers in 70 games.
Chuck Hiller was a left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing second baseman from Johnsburg, Illinois, who spent eight big-league seasons with the Giants, Mets, Phillies and Pirates between 1961 and 1968. Cleveland signed him in 1957 and then left him unprotected, and San Francisco took him in the minor league draft of December 1958 - a bargain that paid off when he was named Texas League Player of the Year in 1960. His college hitting for St. Thomas later earned him a place in the national intercollegiate baseball hall of fame in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was never a big bat, .243 with 20 home runs in 704 games, and his work in the field earned him the nickname Iron Hands, but one swing put him in the record book: a Game 4 grand slam off the Yankees' Marshall Bridges in the 1962 World Series, the first by a National Leaguer. His best average came off the bench, .280 for the 1966 Mets. His playing days ended in 1968, and his baseball life ran another 35 years as a coach, minor league manager and infield instructor, including a ring as a St. Louis coach in 1982. Leukemia took him in 2004 at 70.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 377 | 0 | 22 | 159 | 122 | 42 | 19 | 12 | 1 |
| SGC | 29 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 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 #538 card?
It is card #538 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chuck Hiller of the San Francisco Giants.
Is 1961 Topps #538 a rookie card?
Yes - #538 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Chuck Hiller.
Why is #538 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.