1961 Topps #428 Ray Barker
About Ray Barker
Barker's first Topps card, #428 in the 1961 set, shows him as a Baltimore Oriole on the strength of a five-game September cameo the fall before, when he went hitless in six at-bats and made the only outfield appearance of his career. It sits in the fifth series, and it is a recognized rookie card. While collectors were pulling it, Barker was back in Triple-A with the Rochester Red Wings, Baltimore's International League club, one of four Red Wings besides Boog Powell to clear 15 home runs that summer. Four more years would pass before he got a steady major league job.
Raymond Herrell "Buddy" Barker was a left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing first baseman from Martinsburg, West Virginia, who played parts of four major league seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees between 1960 and 1967. The Orioles signed him in 1955 out of Martinsburg High School for a $1,000 bonus, and the 6-foot, 192-pound Barker then spent a decade in the minors, never failing to reach double figures in home runs across Triple-A stops at Vancouver, Jacksonville, Rochester, Portland, and Syracuse. He debuted on September 13, 1960 with Baltimore and was sent straight back to Triple-A. Only in 1965, at 29, did he get a real major league job, and he made the most of it in New York before the bat went cold and the playing time went with it. In 192 career games he batted .214 with 68 hits, 10 home runs, and 44 RBI, his last appearance coming on May 21, 1967. Martinsburg High School put him in its first Hall of Fame class of athletes; after baseball he worked as a General Motors security officer and coached his sons' teams. He died in his hometown on May 29, 2018, at 82.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Stats Crew · The Baseball Cube
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 286 | 2 | 24 | 126 | 75 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 1 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 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
Team card: #159 Baltimore Orioles Team
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #428 card?
It is card #428 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Barker of the Baltimore Orioles.
Is 1961 Topps #428 a rookie card?
Yes - #428 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Ray Barker.
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.