1961 Topps #573 Ken Boyer
About this card
Cards #566-586 and #589 are the 22 Sporting News All-Stars, printed in the scarce seventh series - the toughest run in the set.
About Ken Boyer
All three 1961 Topps Boyer cards look back on 1960, when he led the Cardinals at .304 with 32 home runs and 97 RBI, topped the National League with 37 double plays at third base, took a Gold Glove, played in both All-Star games and finished sixth in the MVP vote; September alone brought a .385 month and Player of the Month honors. Card 43 is a first-series National League 1960 Home Run Leaders card that sets him beside Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews. Card 375 is his own fifth-series Cardinals card. Card 573 is a seventh-series high number from the Sporting News All-Star run, which sets its players against a mock newspaper front page.
Ken Boyer played 15 major league seasons from 1955 to 1969, 11 of them in St. Louis, where he held third base every year but 1957, when he volunteered for center field so a rookie could have the infield job. Signed out of Alba High School in 1949 as a pitcher, he was moved to third in the minors once his bat outran his arm; brothers Cloyd and Clete also reached the majors. He was named to 11 All-Star squads across seven seasons, won five Gold Gloves, captained the Cardinals from 1959, and hit for the cycle twice. His 1964 was the career year: .295 with 185 hits, 24 homers and a league-leading 119 RBI, the National League Most Valuable Player award, and a pennant St. Louis chased down in the final week. In the World Series he hit a Game 4 grand slam off Al Downing and homered again in Game 7, the same game his brother Clete went deep for the Yankees. He finished with 2,143 hits, 282 home runs and a .287 average, managed the Cardinals from 1978 to 1980, and had his number 14 retired in 1984. Never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he entered the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. He died of lung cancer in 1982 at 51.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet · Sports Collectors Digest
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 853 | 6 | 96 | 368 | 217 | 90 | 51 | 25 | 0 |
| SGC | 95 | 2 | 7 | 32 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 1 |
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
More Ken Boyer in this set: #43 League Leaders, #375
Team card: #347 St. Louis Cardinals Team
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #11 Curt Simmons
- #32 Ray Sadecki
- #52 George Crowe
- #64 Alex Grammas
- #75 Lindy Shows Larry
- #91 Walt Moryn
- #118 Chris Cannizzaro
- #127 Ron Kline
- #139 Solly Hemus
- #148 Julian Javier
- #178 Bob Nieman
- #198 Carl Sawatski
- #211 Bob Gibson
- #232 Bill White
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #573 card?
It is card #573 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Boyer of the St. Louis Cardinals. Cards #566-586 and #589 are the 22 Sporting News All-Stars, printed in the scarce seventh series - the toughest run in the set.
Why is #573 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-589) from the seventh and last print series - the scarce end of the set, including the 22 Sporting News All-Stars.
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.