1961 Topps #104 John Blanchard
About John Blanchard
1961 Topps #104 is a first-series card, and it reached packs just as Blanchard's one big season was getting under way. Ralph Houk had replaced Casey Stengel, who barely used him, and Houk put him in 93 games as a catcher, outfielder and pinch hitter. Blanchard answered with a .305 average, 21 home runs and 54 runs batted in, slugging .613 in only 243 at-bats. Four of those homers came in consecutive at-bats across a three-game span in July, two of them as a pinch hitter, a major league record. He closed the year hitting .400 with two home runs as New York beat Cincinnati in the World Series.
John Edwin Blanchard, born February 26, 1933, in Minneapolis, was a left-handed-hitting catcher and outfielder who spent nearly all of his major league career with the New York Yankees. Signed by New York in 1951 after a summer of semipro ball in Carroll, Iowa, he was turned into a catcher in the low minors at Bill Dickey's suggestion, lost two seasons to the U.S. Army, and debuted on September 25, 1955. Blocked by Yogi Berra and Elston Howard, he did not return to stay until 1959, then became the best-known reserve in the game, riding five straight Yankees pennants from 1960 through 1964 to a .345 average in 15 World Series games and a major league record ten World Series pinch-hit at-bats. He was catching when Bill Mazeroski's home run off Ralph Terry ended the 1960 Series. Blanchard finished with 516 games, 67 home runs and a .239 average, later worked as a color commentator on the first live game ESPN televised, and died in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, on March 25, 2009.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 453 | 5 | 55 | 233 | 93 | 28 | 19 | 16 | 4 |
| SGC | 39 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 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.
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Related cards
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- #40 Bob Turley
- #68 Deron Johnson
- #116 Joe DeMaestri
- #133 Ralph Houk
- #142 Luis Arroyo
- #160 Whitey Ford
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- #252 Bill Short
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- #300 Mickey Mantle
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #104 card?
It is card #104 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Blanchard 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.