1961 Topps #229 Rudy Hernandez
About Rudy Hernandez
Card #229 sits in the third series of the 1961 Topps set, and it is Hernandez's recognized rookie card, printed a year after he had already made history. It shows him with the expansion Washington Senators, who drafted him from the Minnesota Twins in December 1960. He got into just seven games in 1961 with a 3.00 ERA, and his only loss came April 22 against those same Twins, the franchise he had pitched for the year before, on a balk call that sent the winning run to second. A roster cut followed his May 4 outing, the last of his big league career. One wrinkle for collectors: the card gives his birth year as 1933, while records point to 1930 or 1931.
Rudolph Albert Hernandez was a 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander from Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, who reached the majors by an unusual road. New York Giants scout Bubber Jonnard signed him in the spring of 1950 as a position player, and he spent four minor league seasons in the outfield, mostly center field, before Rogers Hornsby, his winter league manager in Puerto Rico, told him to pitch. Roberto Clemente, who had struck out against him, finally talked him into the switch, and he went 15-4 on the mound in 1954. On July 3, 1960, relieving for the original Washington Senators against Cleveland, he became the first Dominican-born pitcher in major league history and only the fourth Dominican-born big leaguer of any kind, beating Juan Marichal to the mound by sixteen days. Six days later three scoreless innings against Baltimore brought his first win. When the original club moved to Minnesota, the new expansion Senators drafted him that December, making him one of only three men to play for both Washington franchises in back-to-back seasons. He finished with 28 games, all in relief, 43 2/3 innings, a 4-2 record and a 4.12 ERA, then ran a San Juan bar and taught youth baseball in Puerto Rico, where he died in 2022.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 290 | 4 | 46 | 135 | 61 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 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 #229 card?
It is card #229 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rudy Hernandez of the Washington Senators.
Is 1961 Topps #229 a rookie card?
Yes - #229 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Rudy Hernandez.
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.