1961 Topps #272 Tom Morgan
About Tom Morgan
The Angels' first summer, played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, gave Morgan the best numbers of his career: 8-2 with a 2.36 earned run average and ten saves in 59 games and 91 2/3 innings, every one of them in relief. He and Art Fowler, who had eleven saves, were Bill Rigney's late-inning pair on a club that finished second in the American League in saves and went 70-91, a .435 mark that is still the best any expansion team has posted in its first season. This card, number 272, belongs to the third series.
Tom Stephen Morgan was a right-handed pitcher from El Monte, California, born May 20, 1930, who worked as both a starter and a reliever over twelve major league seasons. Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before the 1949 season, he debuted on April 20, 1951 and went 38-22 with 27 saves in his first five years in New York, starting 46 games and relieving in 110 others. He pitched in the World Series in 1951, 1955 and 1956 and was on Yankees championship clubs in 1951 and 1956. From 1957 through 1960 he worked mostly in relief for Kansas City, Detroit and Washington, then was acquired by the expansion Los Angeles Angels from the Minnesota Twins on January 31, 1961. Three Angels seasons closed out a career of 67-47 with a 3.61 earned run average, 66 saves and 364 strikeouts in 443 games. He later coached pitchers for the California Angels, the San Diego Padres and the Yankees; Nolan Ryan credited him as the first man to teach him about pitching mechanics. A California farmer, he answered to Plowboy. He died January 13, 1987, in Anaheim at 56.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · UPI
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 339 | 2 | 44 | 183 | 70 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Los Angeles Angels cards:
- #65 Ted Kluszewski
- #121 Eli Grba
- #156 Ken Hunt
- #163 Ed Sadowski
- #176 Ken Aspromonte
- #184 Steve Bilko
- #195 Jerry Casale
- #209 Ken McBride
- #216 Ted Bowsfield
- #225 Bill Rigney
- #246 Bob Davis
- #263 Ken Hamlin
- #282 Faye Throneberry
- #288 Albie Pearson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #272 card?
It is card #272 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Morgan of the Los Angeles Angels.
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.