1961 Topps #3 John Buzhardt
About John Buzhardt
Card #3 is a first-series Philadelphia issue, and the back reports a brutal 1960: 5-16 with a 3.86 ERA over 200.1 innings, second on the staff to Robin Roberts in workload. Eleven straight losing decisions ran from July 19 into September, the Phillies scoring him thirteen runs across the whole run of them; the last was Warren Spahn's first no-hitter, on September 16. Gene Mauch said he could not remember a pitcher having such a bad run of luck. The card catches Buzhardt just before a worse year, with a Philadelphia club about to lose 107 games.
John William Buzhardt was a right-handed pitcher from Prosperity, South Carolina, signed by the Chicago Cubs for $250 in June 1954 and moved through seven minor league stops before reaching the majors on September 10, 1958. He spent eleven seasons (1958-1968) with the Cubs, Phillies, White Sox, Orioles and Astros, finishing 71-96 with a 3.66 ERA and 678 strikeouts. A thinking man's pitcher, he lived on control and a sinker kept low in the zone, and never lost to the Yankees, going 7-0 against them. His rookie September in 1958 brought wins over Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, and on June 21, 1959, he one-hit Philadelphia 4-0 in under two hours. The January 1960 trade that sent Richie Ashburn to Chicago made him a Phillie, and in 1961 he became the man who stopped their 23-game losing streak, still the modern-era record. A November 1961 deal that sent Roy Sievers to Philadelphia brought him to the White Sox and his best years, a 2.42 ERA in 1963 and a career-high 13 wins in 1965. Bounced through three organizations in 1967, his children in four school systems in one year, he turned down a 1969 contract and went home to Prosperity, where a production job grew into a supervisor's post before his death in 2008 at age 71.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 305 | 4 | 27 | 157 | 78 | 21 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 23 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 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
Team card: #491 Philadelphia Phillies Team
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- #20 Robin Roberts
- #59 Jim Woods
- #78 Lee Walls
- #93 Tony Gonzalez
- #103 Ruben Amaro
- #111 Jack Meyer
- #144 Jim Coker
- #154 Bobby Del Greco
- #179 Joe Koppe
- #202 Al Neiger
- #219 Gene Mauch
- #234 Ted Lepcio
- #262 Tony Curry
- #281 Frank Sullivan
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #3 card?
It is card #3 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Buzhardt 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.