1961 Topps #456 Hal Bevan
About Hal Bevan
Cincinnati bought his contract from Seattle in September 1960, but a finger he broke on his right hand in spring training on March 17 cost him the early season. All three of his 1961 appearances came as a pinch hitter, on May 7, 12 and 13. The May 12 swing produced a home run off Pittsburgh's Vinegar Bend Mizell, the only homer and the last RBI of his career; the next day he struck out against Joe Gibbon in his final big-league at-bat, and on May 18 he was sent to Triple-A Jersey City. Brief as the stay was, Jim Brosnan wrote him into Pennant Race, his memoir of Cincinnati's 1961 season. His 1961 Topps card, #456 with the Reds, is a sixth-series card, and it is his rookie card.
Harold Joseph Bevan Jr. was born November 15, 1930, in New Orleans and signed with his hometown Pelicans, a Pittsburgh farm club, in 1948 out of S. J. Peters High School. A right-handed third baseman who later moved behind the plate, he was taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 1951 Rule 5 draft and debuted April 24, 1952. Claimed on waivers by the Philadelphia Athletics that May, he had lifted his average to .333 when he fractured and dislocated his ankle sliding into home on June 14, an injury that ended his season and left the ankle in a cast for seven months. The rest of his career ran through the high minors -- Ottawa, Columbus, Havana, Seattle and San Diego -- with short returns to the majors in 1955 and 1961. In parts of three big-league seasons he hit .292 with one home run and five RBI in 15 games, seven of them as a pinch hitter only, and he never made an error in the field. His minor league ledger was far longer: .295 with 1,618 hits and 90 home runs, plus a .351 Venezuelan Winter League batting title in 1954-55. Bevan later scouted for the Braves and died of a kidney infection in New Orleans on October 5, 1968, at 37.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 380 | 1 | 28 | 207 | 97 | 33 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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 #456 card?
It is card #456 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hal Bevan of the Cincinnati Reds.
Is 1961 Topps #456 a rookie card?
Yes - #456 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Hal Bevan.
Why is #456 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.