1961 Topps #263 Ken Hamlin
About Ken Hamlin
Kansas City lost him in the American League's first expansion draft on December 14, 1960, and he landed in Los Angeles for the Angels' inaugural year, a 70-91 finish that still stands as the best winning percentage any expansion club has posted in its first season. Card 263, a third-series number in the 1961 Topps set, shows him with that brand-new franchise. His time there was short. The shortstop job went to Joe Koppe, Hamlin got into only 42 games and hit .209 with 19 hits and five RBI in 91 at-bats, and in June the Angels sent him and pitcher Russ Heman to Toronto of the International League for Billy Moran.
Kenneth Lee Hamlin was born May 18, 1935, in Detroit and starred at Western Michigan, where in 1957 he hit a then-school-record seven home runs, slugged .714 and was named a second-team All-American, a year after taking second-team All-MAC honors. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him as an amateur free agent on June 3, 1957, and he was in the majors two weeks later, debuting June 17. Five games across two short Pittsburgh stays were all he got there; a December 9, 1959, multi-player trade headlined by pitcher Dick Hall and catcher-third baseman Hal Smith sent him to the Kansas City Athletics, where he became the everyday shortstop in 1960. From there came the expansion Los Angeles Angels in 1961 and Washington, where he played in 1962 and again in 1965 and 1966. A right-handed hitter and thrower, slick in the field with a strong arm and light with the bat, he closed out seven seasons at .241 with 323 hits, 11 home runs and a .963 fielding percentage, his last game coming September 26, 1966. He later ran the Tall Timbers youth camp near Battle Creek, Michigan, and coached high school baseball there; Western Michigan put him in its athletic hall of fame in 2010.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 348 | 1 | 46 | 186 | 87 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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 #263 card?
It is card #263 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Hamlin of the Los Angeles Angels.
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.