1961 Topps #408 Mathewson Strikes Out 267 Batters
Pictures Christy Mathewson.
Features a Hall of Famer: Christy Mathewson.
About this card
Cards #401-410 are the Baseball Thrills subset: ten event cards recalling famous feats, from Babe Ruth's 60th home run to Harvey Haddix's twelve perfect innings.
The story on this card
Card 408 belongs to the Baseball Thrills subset, and the thrill is Christy Mathewson's 1903 strikeout season with the New York Giants. In John McGraw's first full season as manager -- McGraw had taken over the club in July 1902 -- Mathewson went 30-13 with a 2.26 ERA across 366 1/3 innings and struck out 267, the most of his 17-year career and enough to lead the National League. That total stood as the modern National League record for nearly six decades, until Sandy Koufax fanned 269 in 1961, the very year Topps issued this card. It was also the first of Mathewson's three straight 30-win seasons. Card 408 sits in series 5 of the 1961 set.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 557 | 1 | 49 | 184 | 149 | 88 | 47 | 39 | 0 |
| SGC | 85 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 28 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 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 #408 card?
It is card #408 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, Mathewson Strikes Out 267 Batters. Cards #401-410 are the Baseball Thrills subset: ten event cards recalling famous feats, from Babe Ruth's 60th home run to Harvey Haddix's twelve perfect innings.
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.