1961 Topps #289 Ray Moore
About Ray Moore
The Twins' first season in Minnesota was Moore's best as a closer. He worked 46 games without a single start, going 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA and 14 saves across 56 1/3 innings, the fourth-highest save total in the American League that year. Control remained the catch, 38 walks against 45 strikeouts, but at 35 he had never been more useful. His 1961 Topps card, #289, comes from the fourth print series; it is the first of his three Topps cards listing him with Minnesota.
Raymond Leroy Moore was a hard-throwing right-hander who pitched eleven big-league seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins between 1952 and 1963. Born June 1, 1926 in Meadows, Maryland, he signed with Brooklyn before the 1947 season and spent nearly six years in the minors before debuting on August 1, 1952. Traded to Baltimore for Chico Garcia on October 8, 1954, he finally got steady work, winning 10, 12 and 11 games from 1955 through 1957; his 12-7, 4.18 season in 1956 included a career-high nine complete games. On June 28, 1957 he capped four straight Baltimore shutouts, an American League record at the time, blanking Cleveland 6-0. That December the Orioles sent him to Chicago in the deal that shipped Larry Doby to Baltimore, and he pitched an inning of the 1959 World Series for the White Sox. Sold to Washington on June 13, 1960, Moore remade himself as a bullpen closer, ranking third, fourth and seventh in the league in saves from 1960 through 1962. Teammates called him Old Blue, after his favorite blue-tick coonhound. He finished 63-59 with a 4.06 ERA and 46 saves, and died March 2, 1995.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 262 | 0 | 18 | 121 | 85 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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: #542 Minnesota Twins Team
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- #123 Billy Gardner
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #289 card?
It is card #289 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Moore of the Minnesota Twins.
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.