1961 Topps #506 Willie Davis
About Willie Davis
Called up on September 8, 1960, Davis went 28-for-88 (.318) with six doubles, a triple and two home runs over a 22-game September look, two years after signing out of Roosevelt High in Los Angeles. Topps answered with his first card, #506 in the sixth series of the 1961 set, and the issue collectors count as his rookie card. He is twenty years old in the photograph, with one big-league month behind him and the Dodgers' center field job still a year away.
Willie Davis, born William Henry Davis on April 15, 1940, in Mineral Springs, Arkansas, signed with the Dodgers out of Los Angeles' Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1958, discovered by scout Kenny Myers after a three-sport schoolboy career that included a 9.5-second 100-yard dash. He debuted for Los Angeles on September 8, 1960, and the next season replaced former All-Star Duke Snider in center field, a post he held for thirteen years. Davis led the National League in triples twice, sharing the 1962 lead and winning the 1970 title outright, and his 31-game hitting streak in 1969 is still the Dodgers' franchise record. He helped the club win the 1963 and 1965 World Series, though three errors in one inning of the 1966 Series became his career's lasting blemish. A two-time All-Star (1971, 1973) and three-time Gold Glove winner (1971-1973), he later played for Montreal, Texas, St. Louis and San Diego, spent two seasons in Japan, closed his major league career with the California Angels in 1979 and finished in the Mexican League in 1980. He retired with 2,561 hits, 182 home runs, 398 stolen bases and 138 triples, and his 60.8 career WAR is the highest of any player who never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot. He died in Burbank, California, on March 9, 2010.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 627 | 0 | 25 | 193 | 207 | 90 | 63 | 49 | 0 |
| SGC | 77 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 2 |
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 #506 card?
It is card #506 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Is 1961 Topps #506 a rookie card?
Yes - #506 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Willie Davis.
Why is #506 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
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.