1961 Topps #398 Hank Bauer
About Hank Bauer
Bauer's two 1961 cards catch the end of his playing days, his second year in Kansas City after the seven-player deal of December 11, 1959 that sent him west and brought Roger Maris to New York. Series-2 card #119, "A's Big Armor," groups him with second baseman Jerry Lumpe and Norm Siebern, both former Yankees like him; his solo series-5 card #398 lists him in right field. On June 19 the Athletics fired Joe Gordon and made Bauer player-manager, and he played his last big-league game on July 21.
Henry Albert Bauer was born July 31, 1922, in East St. Louis, Illinois, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1942. He fought across the Pacific with the 4th Raider Battalion and the 4th Marines, took shrapnel on Guam and again on Okinawa, and came home with two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and eleven campaign ribbons. A Yankee scout signed him in 1946; he reached New York in September 1948 and spent twelve seasons as their right fielder, starting the All-Star Game in 1952, 1953 and 1954 and winning seven World Series rings. He hit safely in seventeen straight World Series games from 1956 through 1958, the longest such streak in World Series history. Traded to Kansas City after the 1959 season in the deal that brought Roger Maris to New York, Bauer turned manager, running clubs in Kansas City, Baltimore and Oakland across eight seasons, winning the 1966 World Series with Baltimore and taking two Sporting News Manager of the Year awards. Known as "Old Potato Face," he died February 9, 2007, in Lenexa, Kansas.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Baseball Almanac (3)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 340 | 0 | 17 | 148 | 114 | 41 | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 23 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Hank Bauer in this set: #119 A's Big Armor
Team card: #297 Kansas City Athletics Team
More Kansas City Athletics cards:
- #8 Dick Williams
- #24 Ken Johnson
- #39 Leo Posada
- #57 Marv Throneberry
- #94 Johnny Kucks
- #106 Whitey Herzog
- #119 A's Big Armor
- #143 Russ Snyder
- #177 Don Larsen
- #197 Dick Hall
- #199 Bob Boyd
- #212 Haywood Sullivan
- #224 Joe Gordon
- #248 Ed Keegan
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #398 card?
It is card #398 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hank Bauer of the Kansas City Athletics.
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.