1962 Topps #332 Don Buddin
About Don Buddin
Card 332 falls in series 4 of the 1962 Topps set and lists Buddin with the Houston Colt .45s, the expansion club that got him from Boston for Eddie Bressoud -- the very shortstop Houston had just taken with its first pick in the expansion draft. He opened the franchise's first game at short on April 10, 1962, going hitless against the Cubs but turning the first double play in team history, and on June 10 he hit the first grand slam in Houston history, off the Dodgers' Joe Moeller -- his last big-league home run. A .163 average in 40 games cost him the shortstop job to Bob Lillis, and on July 20 he was waived to Detroit.
Donald Thomas Buddin was a shortstop from Turbeville, South Carolina, who signed with the Boston Red Sox out of Olanta High School for a reported fifty thousand dollar bonus after scout Mace Brown persuaded him and his father to pick Boston. He held the Red Sox starting shortstop job from 1956 through 1961, missing 1957 for Army service at Fort Jackson and Fort McPherson. A right-handed hitter who finished with slightly more career walks than strikeouts, 410 to 404, Buddin led American League shortstops in on-base plus slugging in 1958 and ranked second only to Woodie Held in 1959 -- but his league-leading error totals in those same two seasons earned him the nickname Bootin' Buddin from unforgiving Fenway Park crowds, and prompted one Boston writer to suggest his car carry an E-6 license plate. His signature moment came on July 11, 1959, when he hit a walk-off grand slam against the Yankees in the bottom of the tenth. He closed out a six-year major league career in 1962 with Houston and the Detroit Tigers, a .241 lifetime hitter with 41 home runs.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 179 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 94 | 32 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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. 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.
Find this card
Search T206 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 Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #12 Harry Craft
- #23 Norm Larker
- #44 Don Taussig
- #74 Bob Lillis
- #126 Al Cicotte
- #156 Merritt Ranew
- #177 Bobby Shantz
- #204 Johnny Weekly
- #227 Bobby Tiefenauer
- #248 Bob Aspromonte
- #278 Ken Johnson
- #304 Dick Farrell
- #354 Roman Mejias
- #373 Al Heist
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #332 card?
It is card #332 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Buddin of the Houston Colt .45's.
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.