1961 Topps #440 Luis Aparicio
About Luis Aparicio
Aparicio takes two cards in the 1961 set: the series-5 base card #440 and #574, a seventh-series high number in the Sporting News All-Star subset. Both report 1960, when he hit .277 with 51 stolen bases and a career-high 61 RBI for a White Sox club that slipped to third a year after winning the pennant. It was his fifth straight American League stolen-base title.
Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, the son of a celebrated Venezuelan shortstop, and was signed by White Sox general manager Frank Lane on the recommendation of countryman Chico Carrasquel. Two seasons in the minor leagues followed, and in 1956 he took over Carrasquel's shortstop job in Chicago and won the American League Rookie of the Year, the first Latin American player so honored, after leading the league with 21 stolen bases. With second baseman Nellie Fox he formed one of the game's great double-play combinations, sparking the 1959 Go-Go White Sox to their first pennant in 40 years while finishing second to Fox in the MVP vote. He led the American League in stolen bases in each of his first nine seasons, three more in a row than any other player in either league has managed, and won nine Gold Gloves at shortstop. Traded to Baltimore before the 1963 season, he helped the Orioles win the 1966 World Series before returning to Chicago and finishing with the Boston Red Sox. Picked for ten All-Star teams, he retired in 1973 with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases and major-league fielding records for a shortstop. In 1984, on his sixth turn on the ballot, he became the first Venezuelan elected to the Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,160 | 2 | 63 | 372 | 314 | 187 | 109 | 113 | 0 |
| SGC | 169 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 50 | 27 | 39 | 25 | 3 |
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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Luis Aparicio in this set: #574 Sporting News All-Stars
Team card: #7 Chicago White Sox Team
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #30 Nellie Fox
- #56 Russ Kemmerer
- #79 Joe Ginsberg
- #90 Jerry Staley
- #124 J.C. Martin
- #132 Al Lopez
- #152 Earl Torgeson
- #157 Cal McLish
- #170 Al Smith
- #185 Herb Score
- #205 Bill Pierce
- #227 Juan Pizarro
- #247 Billy Goodman
- #271 Jim Landis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #440 card?
It is card #440 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Luis Aparicio of the Chicago White Sox.
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.