1961 Topps #212 Haywood Sullivan
About Haywood Sullivan
Sullivan's 1961 Topps card lists him with the Kansas City Athletics only because of a two-week shuffle: Washington's new expansion club drafted him out of the Boston organization on December 14, 1960, then shipped him to Kansas City for pitcher Marty Kutyna on December 29. The season behind the card was a rough one. He caught Boston's first three games of 1960, including the Presidential Opener at Griffith Stadium, hurt his hand, and lost the starting job when the Red Sox landed Russ Nixon in June, finishing at .161 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 52 games. Number 212 is a third-series card.
Haywood Sullivan was a 6-foot-4, 215-pound catcher who played all or parts of seven big-league seasons with the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Athletics between 1955 and 1963, finishing at .226 with 192 hits, 13 home runs and 87 RBI in 312 games. Born in Donalsonville, Georgia and raised in Dothan, Alabama, he was an All-SEC quarterback and a standout catcher at the University of Florida before signing with Boston in June 1952. Military service cost him the 1953 and 1954 seasons, and surgery on a ruptured disk wiped out all of 1958, so his first eight professional seasons were spent almost entirely in the minors. He reached the majors for good in 1960 at age 29, was taken by the expansion Washington Senators that December and traded to Kansas City, and served as the Athletics' semi-regular catcher in 1961 and 1962. He managed the A's in 1965, then joined the Red Sox front office, was named their general manager in 1977, and held a general partnership in the club from 1978 until 1993. Boston elected him to its team Hall of Fame in 2004.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 356 | 1 | 45 | 195 | 77 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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
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
- #224 Joe Gordon
- #248 Ed Keegan
- #267 Norm Siebern
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #212 card?
It is card #212 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Haywood Sullivan 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.