1961 Topps #28 Hector Lopez
About Hector Lopez
Topps put Lopez at #28 in the 1961 set's first series, an early number, and it follows his first full season in pinstripes. Casey Stengel moved Clete Boyer to third base in 1960 and used Lopez everywhere: 131 games, 106 in the outfield, five at second, one at third, 25 as a pinch-hitter only. He batted .284 with 14 doubles, six triples and nine homers, then went 3-for-7 in his first World Series.
Hector Headley Lopez Swainson, born July 8, 1929, in Colon, Panama, was a third baseman and outfielder who played twelve major league seasons with the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees from 1955 to 1966. The son of a pitcher, he signed out of Panama with a Quebec club in the Class C Provincial League and reached the Athletics organization from there. He became Kansas City's regular third baseman, a right-handed batter who hit to all fields with good power even as he led American League third basemen in errors. Traded to New York in May 1959, he handled all four infield and all three outfield positions over his career and settled in as the Yankees' third outfielder behind Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Nicknamed "Hector the Hit Collector" by writer George Vecsey, he batted .269 with 136 home runs and 591 RBIs, played on five straight pennant winners and two World Series champions, and later became the first Black manager of a Triple-A club, piloting the Buffalo Bisons in 1969. He died September 29, 2022, at 93.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 368 | 2 | 23 | 149 | 112 | 42 | 22 | 18 | 0 |
| SGC | 37 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 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: #228 New York Yankees Team
More New York Yankees cards:
- #2 Roger Maris
- #19 Cletis Boyer
- #40 Bob Turley
- #68 Deron Johnson
- #104 John Blanchard
- #116 Joe DeMaestri
- #133 Ralph Houk
- #142 Luis Arroyo
- #160 Whitey Ford
- #180 Bobby Richardson
- #213 Bill Stafford
- #252 Bill Short
- #265 Tony Kubek
- #300 Mickey Mantle
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #28 card?
It is card #28 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hector Lopez of the New York Yankees.
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.