1961 Topps #144 Jim Coker
Carries the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy, awarded for the 1960 season.
About Jim Coker
Card #144 sits in the 1961 set's second series and carries the trophy embossed 'Topps 1960 All-Star Rookie' - Topps named Coker the catcher on that rookie squad after the one year he spent as a regular, 81 games and 252 at-bats for Philadelphia at a .214 average. It is a plain low-number card. The season it was issued told a different story: Coker opened 1961 back at Buffalo, was recalled in June, and hit .400 in 25 at-bats over 11 Phillies games before being sent down again in July to clear a roster spot.
Jimmie Goodwin Coker (born March 28, 1936, in Holly Hill, South Carolina) was a right-handed-hitting catcher who played all or parts of nine major league seasons. An All-State fullback at Holly Hill High School, he accepted a football scholarship to Furman University but gave up the gridiron as a freshman after a severe shoulder injury; Phillies scout Wes Livengood signed him for a $4,000 bonus on February 19, 1955. Coker was the Texas League's Rookie of the Year at Tulsa in 1957, and after Buffalo took the 1959 International League pennant The Sporting News called him the best catching prospect the league had produced since Roy Campanella. He debuted for Philadelphia on September 11, 1958, and opened 1960 as the Phillies' starting catcher, but he allowed 55 stolen bases that year, the most in the majors, and never worked his way back out of a reserve role. Between November 1962 and August 1964 he changed organizations five times before landing with Cincinnati, where he spent his last four seasons. He batted .231 with 137 hits, 16 home runs and 70 RBIs in 233 games, then retired in March 1968 to ranch in Throckmorton, Texas, where he died of a heart attack in 1991.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 365 | 0 | 32 | 193 | 93 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #144 card?
It is card #144 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Coker 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.