1961 Topps #448 Del Rice
About Del Rice
For 1961 Del Rice became the very first player to sign with the Los Angeles Angels, joining the expansion club as a player-coach for its inaugural American League season. It proved to be his last year as an active player: he got into 44 games, 27 of them behind the plate, batted .241, and made his final major league appearance on August 31. The Angels released him as a player after the season but kept him in the organization, and he served as their first base coach from 1962 through 1966. Card #448 is from the sixth print series, and it lists him with the Los Angeles Angels.
Del Rice was a tall, right-handed catcher who spent 17 major league seasons, from 1945 through 1961, prized far more for his glove and his handling of pitchers than for his bat. Signed by the Cardinals as an 18-year-old in 1941, he broke in with St. Louis in 1945 and caught all three of Harry Brecheen's victories in the 1946 World Series, a seven-game win over the Red Sox. He had his best year in 1952, batting .259 with 11 home runs and a career-high 65 runs batted in while leading National League catchers in games, putouts, assists and runners caught stealing, and in 1953 he was named a National League All-Star reserve, though a finger injury kept him out of the game. Traded to the Milwaukee Braves in June 1955, he became right-hander Bob Buhl's personal catcher and won a second championship with the 1957 Braves. He passed through the Cubs, Cardinals and Orioles in 1960, catching Don Cardwell's no-hitter along the way, and finished at .237 with 79 home runs over 1,309 games. He later coached for the Angels and Cleveland and managed the 1972 Angels.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 452 | 5 | 49 | 240 | 98 | 34 | 17 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 28 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #448 card?
It is card #448 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Del Rice of the Los Angeles Angels.
Why is #448 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
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.