1961 Topps #214 Danny Murphy
About Danny Murphy
A third-series card, #214 is his recognised rookie card - the first Topps issue of a Cub who had already spent a summer in the majors. The 1961 season around it was his thinnest: four games, each one a start in right field, 13 at-bats. He made them count, going 5-for-13 with two home runs and three runs batted in, .385 with a .846 slugging mark. Chicago went 64-90, seventh in the National League, in the first College of Coaches year.
Danny Murphy, born Daniel Francis Murphy on August 23, 1942, in Beverly, Massachusetts, was the biggest bonus baby baseball had signed to that point. He hit .489 and went 11-0 on the mound at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, and the Chicago Cubs signed him on June 15, 1960, following his graduation and two months short of his 18th birthday, for a bonus reported at the time as $100,000 and listed elsewhere as $130,000. Three days later he started in center field at Crosley Field against Cincinnati, the youngest player in the National League and a boy with no professional season of any kind behind him. On September 13, 1960, three weeks past his 18th birthday, he became the youngest Cub to hit a home run. He batted left and threw right, and across parts of three seasons he collected 21 hits in 123 at-bats, a .171 average, before a spring-training trade to Houston in 1963. Six minor-league years and a switch to the mound later he returned as a right-handed reliever for the Chicago White Sox in 1969 and 1970, finishing 4-4 with a 4.66 earned run average and nine saves. He is not a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 313 | 5 | 33 | 160 | 71 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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: #122 Chicago Cubs Team
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- #58 Joe Schaffernoth
- #88 Richie Ashburn
- #107 Seth Morehead
- #141 Billy Williams
- #169 Don Elston
- #196 Ed Bouchee
- #231 Dick Drott
- #253 Sammy Taylor
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #214 card?
It is card #214 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Danny Murphy of the Chicago Cubs.
Is 1961 Topps #214 a rookie card?
Yes - #214 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Danny Murphy.
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.