1961 Topps #253 Sammy Taylor
About Sammy Taylor
By 1961 Taylor was the Cubs' second-most-used catcher, working behind Dick Bertell. He got into 89 games, caught 75 of them with 61 starts, and hit .238 with eight home runs and 23 RBI in 235 at-bats. Card number 253 is a third-series issue in the 1961 Topps set, a mid-run number. The front shows him with the Chicago Cubs, in what turned out to be his last full season in Chicago.
Samuel Douglas Taylor was a left-handed-hitting catcher who spent six major league seasons, from 1958 to 1963, with the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. Born in Woodruff, South Carolina, he stood 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, came out of Woodruff High School to play one season of Class D ball in 1950, then served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict. Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as a free agent in 1956, he spent two full years in that farm system before a December 5, 1957 trade sent him to the Cubs, and he reached the majors in April 1958, drawing a walk as a pinch hitter in his first plate appearance. His best year came in 1959, when he hit .269 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 110 games. He lost the starting job during a .207 season in 1960, moved to the expansion Mets in 1962, and closed things out in 1963 with brief stops in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Over 473 games he hit .245 with 309 hits, 33 home runs and 147 RBI. He died in Woodruff in 2019 at age 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 334 | 3 | 45 | 182 | 67 | 17 | 15 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 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
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #253 card?
It is card #253 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sammy Taylor of the Chicago Cubs.
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.