1961 Topps #464 Leroy Thomas
About Leroy Thomas
Thomas opened 1961 with the Yankees, going 1-for-2 in two pinch-hitting appearances before a May 8 trade sent him to the one-month-old Los Angeles Angels. Given regular work in the outfield and at first base, he batted .284 for Los Angeles with 24 home runs and 70 runs batted in and tied for third in Rookie of the Year voting. On September 5 at Kansas City he produced one of the greatest doubleheaders on record, going 5-for-5 in the opener and 4-for-6 in the nightcap with three home runs, a grand slam and eight runs batted in. Card 464 is a series-six issue and his recognized rookie card.
Lee Thomas, born James Leroy Thomas in Peoria, Illinois, in 1936 and raised in St. Louis, spent seven seasons in the New York Yankees' minor league system before reaching the majors in 1961. Dealt to the expansion Los Angeles Angels a month into that season, he had a strong rookie year and delivered one of the great single-day performances in the game's history on September 5, going 9-for-11 across a doubleheader at Kansas City and hitting three home runs, one of them a grand slam, with eight runs batted in during the nightcap. His finest full season came in 1962, when he made the American League All-Star team while setting career highs in average, home runs, and runs batted in. Six more years followed with the Angels, Red Sox, Braves, Cubs, and Astros, then a season in Japan with the Nankai Hawks. He built a far longer front-office career after that, running player development for the St. Louis Cardinals through their 1982 World Series title and then serving as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1988 to 1997, where he assembled the club's 1993 pennant winner and was named The Sporting News Major League Executive of the Year. He died in St. Louis in 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 310 | 5 | 30 | 165 | 64 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #464 card?
It is card #464 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Leroy Thomas of the Los Angeles Angels.
Is 1961 Topps #464 a rookie card?
Yes - #464 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Leroy Thomas.
Why is #464 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
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.