1961 Topps #400 Vern Law
About Vern Law
Three 1961 cards carry Law's Cy Young season of 20-9, 3.08 and 18 complete games. The National League pitching leaders card #47 sets him and Lew Burdette behind Ernie Broglio and Warren Spahn, who tied for the league lead at 21 wins; it comes two ways, with and without a black vertical bar beside the 19 in Burdette's box. Card #250, "Buc Hill Aces," pairs him with Roy Face, who relieved him and finished both World Series games Law won. His own card, #400, is a fifth-series issue.
Vernon Sanders Law pitched all 16 of his major league seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, from his 1950 debut through 1967, with 1952 and 1953 given to the Army. He signed out of Meridian, Idaho in 1948 after part-owner Bing Crosby telephoned his parents. Law went 18-9 in 1959, then 20-9 with a 3.08 ERA and 18 complete games in 1960, winning the Cy Young Award when a single trophy still covered both leagues, the first won by a Pirate. He started three games of that World Series and won Games One and Four on an ankle teammates had sprained while tugging at his shoe in the pennant celebration. Favoring it tore muscles at the back of his shoulder; three thin seasons followed, and Danny Murtaugh suggested he retire after 1963. Law came back instead, going 17-9 with a career-low 2.15 ERA in 1965 for National League Comeback Player of the Year and the Lou Gehrig Award. He finished 162-147 with a 3.77 ERA, then coached Pirates pitchers and later at Brigham Young University, where future Hall of Famer Jack Morris pitched for him. An elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was "Deacon" to teammates for the faith that governed his conduct; Pittsburgh elected him to the club's own Hall of Fame in August 2025.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 332 | 0 | 27 | 133 | 98 | 41 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 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
More Vern Law in this set: #47 League Leaders, #250 Buc Hill Aces
Team card: #554 Pittsburgh Pirates Team
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 Dick Groat
- #22 Clem Labine
- #54 Earl Francis
- #70 Bill Virdon
- #82 Joe Christopher
- #100 Harvey Haddix
- #126 Dick Stuart
- #138 Danny Murtaugh
- #149 Bob Oldis
- #165 Gino Cimoli
- #181 Fred Green
- #204 Bob Skinner
- #230 Don Hoak
- #242 Hal W. Smith
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #400 card?
It is card #400 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Vern Law of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.