1961 Topps #549 Hal R. Smith
Two different Hal Smiths caught in the majors at the same time. This is the Cardinals' Hal R. Smith, not the Pirates catcher Hal W. Smith, who has card 242 in this set.
About Hal R. Smith
Card 549 catches Smith at the end of the line. He opened 1961 as the Cardinals' regular catcher, starting 42 of the club's first 48 games, and on Opening Day he led off the eighth inning with a triple off Warren Spahn and scored the tying run in a 2-1 win over the Braves. In June, just after his 30th birthday, chest pains sent him to a St. Louis hospital, where doctors found a coronary artery condition and told him he was through as a player. He was back in uniform as the Cardinals' bullpen coach in 1962. It is a high number from the seventh series, the toughest end of the set. Do not confuse him with Hal W. Smith, the Pirates catcher on card 242.
Harold Raymond Smith was a defense-first catcher who spent six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, from his 1956 debut until a heart ailment forced him off the field in June 1961. Born in Barling, Arkansas, on June 1, 1931, he never played high school or college baseball and learned the position in American Legion ball at Fort Smith before signing with a Cardinals scout in September 1948. What set him apart was his arm. Smith led National League catchers in runners thrown out stealing in both 1959 and 1960, and in caught-stealing percentage in 1960, and he made only 33 errors in his career. Tim McCarver, who took over the St. Louis job after him, later ranked him third among the greatest Cardinals catchers, praising his soft hands and saying pitchers loved throwing to him. A National League All-Star in 1957 and 1959, he finished at .258 with 437 hits and 23 home runs, and punished good pitching: .364 against Sandy Koufax, .373 against Johnny Antonelli. Cleared years later, he caught four more games for the 1965 Pirates as an emergency player-coach. He stayed in the game until 1997 as a coach, minor league manager and scout; Arkansas put him in its state Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He died in 2014.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 520 | 3 | 43 | 235 | 142 | 64 | 23 | 9 | 1 |
| SGC | 35 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 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 #549 card?
It is card #549 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hal R. Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Why is #549 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-589) from the seventh and last print series - the scarce end of the set, including the 22 Sporting News All-Stars.
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.