1961 Topps #493 Don Zimmer
About Don Zimmer
Card 493 sits in the 1961 set's sixth series, a tougher slot than the low numbers. Zimmer had come to the Cubs on April 8, 1960, when Chicago sent Ron Perranoski, Johnny Goryl, minor leaguer Lee Handley and $25,000 to the Dodgers for him. This was his second and last season at Wrigley Field: he played 128 games, mostly at second base, batting .252 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI for a 64-90 club run by Philip Wrigley's rotating College of Coaches. The National League named him an All-Star reserve for both of that summer's All-Star Games.
Donald William Zimmer (1931-2014) was a light-hitting, glove-first infielder who signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1949 and spent twelve seasons in the major leagues. A pitch fractured his skull while he was with Triple-A St. Paul in July 1953, left him unconscious for days and forced surgery to relieve the swelling; he was back in the big leagues the following summer, debuting for Brooklyn on July 2, 1954. That winter he was the Caribbean Series MVP for Santurce, batting .400 with three home runs. Zimmer won World Series rings with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers, and also played for the Cubs, Mets, Reds and Washington Senators, filling in at second base, third base, shortstop, the outfield and finally catcher. He finished at .235 with 91 home runs and 352 RBI in 1,095 games. He later managed the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers and Cubs, took National League Manager of the Year honors in 1989, and sat beside Joe Torre as Yankees bench coach through their late-1990s title run. The Red Sox and the Rays each elected him to their team halls of fame, and Tampa Bay retired his number 66 in 2015.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 474 | 0 | 19 | 161 | 159 | 83 | 23 | 29 | 0 |
| SGC | 59 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 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 #493 card?
It is card #493 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Zimmer of the Chicago Cubs.
Why is #493 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.