1961 Topps #19 Cletis Boyer
About Cletis Boyer
Topps placed him at #19 in the first series of the 1961 set, printed under his given name, Cletis Boyer. The card lands on the heels of his 1960 breakthrough: .242 with 14 home runs and 46 RBI, the year he beat out Gil McDougald and two others for the Yankees' third-base job and made 93 starts there plus 20 more at shortstop. That October brought a sting. Casey Stengel pinch-hit Dale Long for him in the second inning of Game One of the World Series, and Boyer did not appear again until Game Six; Pittsburgh took the Series on Bill Mazeroski's home run in Game Seven.
Cletis Leroy 'Clete' Boyer, born February 9, 1937, in Cassville, Missouri, grew up in Alba as one of fourteen children; all seven Boyer boys signed professional contracts, and two older brothers reached the majors -- Cardinals pitcher Cloyd, and Ken, the St. Louis third baseman named 1964 National League MVP. Kansas City signed Clete for a reported $35,000 bonus on May 30, 1955, and the bonus-baby rule sent him from Alba High School straight to the Athletics with no minor league time at all. A 13-player deal, finally completed on June 4, 1957, made him a Yankee, and he took over third base in 1960 on the strength of an arm and a glove teammates rated with anyone's. He played in five straight Yankees World Series from 1960 through 1964, winning in 1961 and 1962. Traded to Atlanta after the 1966 season, he put up career highs in 1967 and won a Gold Glove in 1969; with Ken already holding five, the Boyers became the first brothers to each win the award. He hit .242 with 162 home runs and 654 RBI across 16 major league seasons, then played four years in Japan for the Taiyo Whales, coached in the majors, and died June 4, 2007.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 513 | 2 | 21 | 175 | 150 | 88 | 33 | 43 | 1 |
| SGC | 62 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #19 card?
It is card #19 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Cletis Boyer of the New York Yankees.
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.