1961 Topps #541 Roland Sheldon
About Roland Sheldon
Card #541 lands in the seventh series, so this high number is both scarce and the recognized rookie card of a pitcher who had been in Class D ball a year earlier. Sheldon won the James P. Dawson Award as the outstanding rookie in Yankees camp, made the club out of spring training, and had a rotation turn by midsummer, throwing complete-game shutouts four days apart at Yankee Stadium: a four-hitter against Cleveland on July 5 and a five-hitter against Boston on July 9. He finished 11-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 35 games for a 109-53 club, and never got into the five-game World Series win over Cincinnati.
Roland "Rollie" Sheldon was a 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher born in Putnam, Connecticut, on December 17, 1936. He grew up a Red Sox fan but, after Air Force service and stops at Texas A&M and the University of Connecticut, signed with the Yankees in June 1960. One Class D season later - 15-1 at Auburn of the New York-Penn League - he made New York out of spring training in 1961 and became a rotation starter on back-to-back pennant winners. A sophomore slump sent him to Triple-A Richmond for a year and a half before he came back in June 1964 and worked hitless relief in two games of that year's World Series. A May 1965 trade sent him to the Kansas City Athletics, where he finally got a regular turn in the rotation, and a June 1966 trade moved him on to the Boston Red Sox. He finished 38-36 with a 4.09 ERA over five big-league seasons, then pitched four more years in the high minors before settling in Lee's Summit, Missouri, and working in insurance.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 601 | 3 | 24 | 157 | 207 | 112 | 58 | 40 | 0 |
| SGC | 53 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 1 |
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 #541 card?
It is card #541 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Roland Sheldon of the New York Yankees.
Is 1961 Topps #541 a rookie card?
Yes - #541 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Roland Sheldon.
Why is #541 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.