1962 Topps #126 Al Cicotte
About Al Cicotte
Houston never had to spend an expansion draft pick on him. On October 13, 1961, three days after that draft, the Cardinals sold his contract to the new Colt .45s for $25,000. He competed for the fifth starter job in spring training, lost out, and worked from the bullpen, getting into only five games for 4 2/3 innings. His last major-league outing came on May 8, 1962, when he retired all three Los Angeles Dodgers he faced; Houston sent him to the minors the next day, ending a career spread over six franchises. His 1962 Topps card, number 126, is a second print series card with Houston. Collectors chase it in two states, with and without the green tint.
Alva Warren Cicotte grew up in Melvindale, Michigan, a small suburb southwest of Detroit, where he starred in baseball, basketball and football and was named quarterback on the 1948 All-State Michigan high school team. He idolized Bob Feller, and pitching won out: shortly after graduating he signed with the New York Yankees organization for $250 a month as an eighteen-year-old right-hander. Nearly a decade in the Yankees chain followed, interrupted by two hitches in Air Force service, before he reached the majors on April 22, 1957. His blazing fastball always outran his control, and he walked 119 batters in 260 major-league innings. He pitched for the Yankees, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, then had the best year of his career in 1960 with the International League Toronto Maple Leafs, leading the circuit in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and ERA and throwing an eleven-inning no-hitter against the Montreal Royals. Two National League seasons closed him out at 10-13 with a 4.36 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 102 games. He was a great-nephew of Eddie Cicotte, the pitcher banned for life over the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and he sold insurance after baseball.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Print variations
Two states of #126 are tracked individually: 126a - No Green Tint and 126b - Green Tint. The difference is on the front of the card (green tint).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126a - No Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 256 | 0 | 8 | 76 | 116 | 44 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 126b - Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 64 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 29 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Related cards
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #12 Harry Craft
- #23 Norm Larker
- #44 Don Taussig
- #74 Bob Lillis
- #156 Merritt Ranew
- #177 Bobby Shantz
- #204 Johnny Weekly
- #227 Bobby Tiefenauer
- #248 Bob Aspromonte
- #278 Ken Johnson
- #304 Dick Farrell
- #332 Don Buddin
- #354 Roman Mejias
- #373 Al Heist
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #126 card?
It is card #126 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al Cicotte of the Houston Colt .45's.
Does 1962 Topps #126 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked separately: 126a - No Green Tint (No green tint - the standard first printing) and 126b - Green Tint (Green tint - the color-shifted second printing of series 2). Owning any one of them fills the #126 slot; the master set counts each state.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-03.