1961 Topps #125 Steve Barber
About Steve Barber
Barber's 1961 Topps card #125, a series-2 base issue, follows his rookie season with Baltimore: 10-7 with a 3.22 ERA in 36 games, though he also led the American League in walks and wild pitches. A photographer testing pitchers with a high-speed movie camera in the spring of 1960 clocked him at 95.55 mph, the fastest of the group and ahead of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, and The Sporting News named him to its all-rookie team.
Steve Barber was a hard-throwing left-hander who anchored the Baltimore Orioles' staff from 1960 into the middle of 1967, part of the young 'Kiddie Korps' rotation with Milt Pappas, Chuck Estrada, Jack Fisher and Jerry Walker. Orioles scout Walter Youse signed him out of Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1957, and three wild years in the low minors followed alongside fellow hard throwers Bo Belinsky and Steve Dalkowski, a trio remembered as 'The Lost Boys.' A live fastball and a heavy sinker made him overpowering when he found the plate: 18 wins in 1961, and in 1963 he became the first pitcher of the modern Orioles to win 20 games in a season. He was an All-Star in 1963 and again in 1966, and was hurt both times without pitching in the game. His elbow gave out in the middle of a dominant 1966 and never fully recovered. He finished 121-106 with a 3.36 ERA over 15 seasons, entered the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1988, and died in 2007.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 332 | 0 | 25 | 154 | 117 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 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
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #10 Brooks Robinson
- #26 Wes Stock
- #62 Al Pilarcik
- #71 Jerry Adair
- #85 Jerry Walker
- #102 Gene Stephens
- #131 Paul Richards
- #140 Gus Triandos
- #182 Dave Nicholson
- #218 Hal Brown
- #240 Ron Hansen
- #256 Billy Hoeft
- #277 Hank Foiles
- #295 Milt Pappas
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #125 card?
It is card #125 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Barber of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.