1961 Topps #111 Jack Meyer
About Jack Meyer
Card #111 sits in the second series - Meyer had been a Phillie since 1955, when he debuted as a starter before taking over the bullpen and leading the National League in saves. He reported to camp in 1961 months removed from surgery that fused two vertebrae and ended his 1960 season, and the back held up all spring; it was the old sore arm that came back. He got into exactly one game, working two innings against St. Louis on April 30 and giving up two runs, then told the Phillies he was done. The card reached collectors the same spring his playing days ended.
John Robert Meyer was a Philadelphia native who starred in baseball, football and track at Penn Charter, the city's old Quaker prep school. The Yankees offered him $25,000 out of high school; he turned it down for college at Wake Forest, hurt his arm pitching semipro ball, and signed with his hometown Phillies in 1951 for just $3,500. The hard-throwing right-hander debuted in April 1955 and had his best year immediately, leading the National League with 16 saves and 36 games finished, striking out 97 in 110 1/3 innings and finishing runner-up to Bill Virdon for Rookie of the Year. From 1956 on the Phillies used him mainly in relief, where he worked from a crouched, arms-dangling "gorilla stance" he adopted to lock in on the catcher's target. Off the field he was one of the Dalton Gang, a quartet of Phillies pitchers notorious for late-night carousing; a scuffle after a night of drinking in Pittsburgh in May 1960 wrecked his back, cost him a $1,200 fine and the rest of the season, and led to surgery. He pitched one more big-league game, in 1961, and finished 24-34 with a 3.92 ERA. He died of a heart attack in 1967 at 34.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 320 | 0 | 16 | 93 | 141 | 48 | 14 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 #111 card?
It is card #111 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jack Meyer of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.