1961 Topps #230 Don Hoak
About Don Hoak
Card #230 sits in the third series and catches Hoak fresh off the Pirates' 1960 championship season, when he played all 155 games, scored 97 runs, drove in 79 and batted .282. He carried the club hurt: a foot cut open at an August pool party, stitched by a doctor sworn to secrecy, and a doubleheader the next day. Vernon Law called him the backbone of that team.
Don Hoak was a right-handed-hitting third baseman, born February 5, 1928 in Roulette, Pennsylvania, who spent eleven major league seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Redlegs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies from 1954 through 1964. Nicknamed "Tiger" by Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince for his ferociousness on the field, Hoak built his reputation on a hard-nosed, hustling style, a sure glove and good speed rather than on his bat. He made his only All-Star team in 1957 with Cincinnati, a season in which he hit .293 and set career highs with 19 home runs and 89 RBIs while leading the National League with 39 doubles. He started at third base in the deciding Game Seven of two World Series won by his teams, filling in for Jackie Robinson for the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and again for the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, and he finished runner-up to teammate Dick Groat in the 1960 National League MVP vote. Over eleven seasons he batted .265 with 89 home runs and 498 RBIs in 1,263 games. After retiring as a player in 1964 he worked as a Pirates broadcaster, a Phillies coach, and a Pirates minor league manager before dying of a heart attack in October 1969 at age 41.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 272 | 3 | 29 | 113 | 70 | 34 | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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: #554 Pittsburgh Pirates Team
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- #1 Dick Groat
- #22 Clem Labine
- #54 Earl Francis
- #70 Bill Virdon
- #82 Joe Christopher
- #100 Harvey Haddix
- #126 Dick Stuart
- #138 Danny Murtaugh
- #149 Bob Oldis
- #165 Gino Cimoli
- #181 Fred Green
- #204 Bob Skinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #230 card?
It is card #230 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Hoak of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.