1961 Topps #526 R.C. Stevens
About R.C. Stevens
Pittsburgh traded Stevens to the new Washington Senators on December 16, 1960, with Harry Bright and Bennie Daniels for pitcher Bobby Shantz. He opened the year platooning at first base with Dale Long, and on April 10 he became the first pinch hitter in expansion Senators history, batting for Pete Daley and grounding into a fielder's choice against White Sox reliever Frank Baumann in a 4-3 loss. The bat never followed - 8 hits in 62 at-bats, .129 - and his last big-league game came June 10, 1961. His 1961 Topps card, number 526, sits in the seventh print series and is a high number; it pictures him as a Senator.
R C Stevens had no first name, just the initials, and a boyhood nickname, Seaboat, for his size. Born July 22, 1934 in Moultrie, Georgia, he grew to 6-foot-5 and became one of the few position players who batted right-handed and threw left-handed; he had started out batting left-handed with a cross-handed grip and switched sides of the plate instead. Branch Rickey's Pirates were recruiting at black high schools across the South, and Stevens's high school coach steered him to the tryout that got him signed before the 1952 season. He debuted on Opening Day 1958 and won two early games with his bat, but never held a big-league job: parts of four seasons, three with Pittsburgh (1958-1960) and one with the expansion Washington Senators (1961), produced a .210 average, 34 hits, 8 home runs and 21 RBI in 104 games at first base. The minors suited him better - 191 home runs over 12 seasons, including a Pacific Coast League-leading 37 for Salt Lake City in 1960. He was with the 1960 world champion Pirates in September but not on their World Series roster. An inaugural Colquitt County (Georgia) Sports Hall of Fame inductee in 2000, Stevens died November 30, 2010 in Davenport, Iowa, at 76.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 341 | 2 | 13 | 107 | 125 | 58 | 26 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 23 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 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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Related cards
More Washington Senators cards:
- #117 Dale Long
- #129 Ed Hobaugh
- #134 Mickey Vernon
- #146 Marty Keough
- #158 Pete Daley
- #174 Ray Semproch
- #187 Billy Klaus
- #206 Gene Green
- #229 Rudy Hernandez
- #239 Dave Sisler
- #259 John Schaive
- #275 Gene Woodling
- #293 Tom Sturdivant
- #318 Danny O'Connell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #526 card?
It is card #526 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing R.C. Stevens of the Washington Senators.
Why is #526 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-589) from the seventh and last print series - the scarce end of the set, including the 22 Sporting News All-Stars.
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.