1961 Topps #507 Pete Burnside
About Pete Burnside
Detroit left Burnside unprotected for the 1960 expansion draft and the new Washington Senators took him eighth overall, then opened 1961 with him in the rotation. Inconsistency cost him the job in early July, and he was one of only three pitchers Roger Maris took deep three times during the 61-homer season. Pitching coach Sid Hudson told him to shorten his stride, and the fix took: back in the rotation in September, he threw a five-hitter and a two-hitter, both shutouts against the Athletics, and finished 4-9 with a 4.53 ERA in 33 games. His 1961 Topps card, #507, comes from the sixth print series, late-series ground that set builders chase.
Peter Willits Burnside was a left-handed pitcher born in Evanston, Illinois in 1930. A basketball and baseball star at New Trier High School in Winnetka, he signed with the New York Giants in 1949 under an agreement that let him wait each year until the spring semester ended at Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1952 with a double major in history and sociology. Minor league stops, a US Army stint during the Korean War and a league-leading 235 strikeouts for Dallas in 1955 preceded his September debut with the Giants that year. He pitched for the New York and San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators and Baltimore Orioles through 1963, finishing 19-36 with a 4.81 ERA, 14 complete games, three shutouts and 303 strikeouts in 196 games. He closed his playing career with two seasons in Japan for the Hanshin Tigers, then returned to Illinois, earned a master's degree at Northwestern and taught and coached at New Trier from 1967 until 1993. He died in Wilmette, Illinois in 2022 at 92.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 450 | 1 | 37 | 278 | 79 | 32 | 17 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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 #507 card?
It is card #507 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Pete Burnside of the Washington Senators.
Why is #507 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.