1961 Topps #5 Johnny Romano
About Johnny Romano
Card #5 is a series-1 base issue sitting near the front of the 1961 set, and it reports Romano's first year as a regular: .272 with 16 home runs and 52 RBI in 108 games for Cleveland in 1960. He had arrived that winter in the December 6, 1959 trade that also sent Norm Cash from the White Sox to the Indians, and Cleveland handed him the job Russ Nixon had been holding. Four September games in 1958 and 53 more behind Sherm Lollar in 1959 were all the big-league service he brought with him, so 1960 was the first full season he had to show.
John Anthony Romano Jr., a catcher nicknamed 'Honey' by an uncle, signed with the Chicago White Sox organization in 1954 out of Hoboken, New Jersey, and set a Class B Three-I League record with 38 home runs for Waterloo in 1955. He reached the majors with Chicago late in 1958, backed up Sherm Lollar on the pennant-winning 1959 White Sox, and became Cleveland's regular catcher in 1960. An All-Star in 1961 and 1962, he hit 91 home runs as a Cleveland catcher, a franchise record for the position until Sandy Alomar Jr. passed it. A broken finger in May 1963 cost him half a season, and he never again matched the .299 average or the 25 homers of his All-Star years. A 1965 trade returned him to Chicago and a 1966 trade sent him to St. Louis, where he closed out a ten-year career with the World Series champion Cardinals, finishing at .255 with 129 home runs and 417 RBI in 905 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 253 | 1 | 22 | 114 | 74 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 2 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 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: #467 Cleveland Indians Team
More Cleveland Indians cards:
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- #34 Wynn Hawkins
- #60 Woodie Held
- #77 Dick Stigman
- #101 Bubba Phillips
- #115 Johnny Antonelli
- #155 Johnny Temple
- #172 Don Dillard
- #191 Mike de la Hoz
- #222 Jimmie Dykes
- #255 Vic Power
- #274 Gary Bell
- #319 Valmy Thomas
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #5 card?
It is card #5 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Romano of the Cleveland Indians.
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.