1961 Topps #242 Hal W. Smith
Two big-league catchers went by Hal Smith in these years. This is the Pittsburgh one; the Cardinals catcher of the same name turns up later in the set, at number 549.
About Hal W. Smith
Card 242 shows Smith in his second Pittsburgh season, still splitting the catching with left-handed Smoky Burgess on the heels of the pennant and the Series title. The bat went quiet: .223 in 67 games with three home runs, a long way from the previous October. One thing to know before you file it - the set carries two Hal Smiths, this Pirate and the Cardinals catcher of the same name at number 549, so check the team before you tick one off your list. Number 242 sits in the third print series.
Harold Wayne Smith was a right-handed catcher who appeared in 879 games over ten major league seasons from 1955 to 1964, filling in at third base and first base along the way. Signed by the New York Yankees out of high school in 1949, he never played an inning for them; a 17-player trade after the 1954 season sent him to Baltimore, where he opened 1955 as the Orioles' starting catcher and played a career-high 135 games. Traded to Kansas City in August 1956, he put up his best year at the plate in 1957, batting .303 with 26 doubles and 13 home runs. The Pirates acquired him after the 1959 season, and in 1960 he platooned behind the plate with left-handed-hitting Smoky Burgess, batting .295 with 11 home runs and 45 runs batted in. He is remembered for the three-run homer off Jim Coates in the eighth inning of Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, which put Pittsburgh ahead 9-7 an inning before Bill Mazeroski's walk-off settled it. Houston took him in the 1961 expansion draft, and he finished up with Cincinnati in 1964, closing with 715 hits, 58 home runs, 323 runs batted in and a .267 average. He died in 2020 at age 89.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 570 | 3 | 38 | 251 | 148 | 71 | 31 | 24 | 4 |
| SGC | 30 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
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
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #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
- #230 Don Hoak
- #250 Buc Hill Aces
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #242 card?
It is card #242 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hal W. Smith 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.