1962 Topps #446 Don Elston
About Don Elston
Opening Day 1962 gave Elston a rude welcome. Asked to protect a 4-3 lead with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth, he walked Carl Sawatski to tie it and the Cubs lost in 15 innings. He recovered well enough to keep his ERA under 2.00 into late June, and he closed at 4-8 with a 2.44 ERA and eight saves across 57 games and 66 1/3 innings, steady work on a 59-103 team that finished ninth. It was his fifth straight season among the league's top eight in both saves and appearances. This card, #446 in the fifth series, shows him with the Chicago Cubs.
Donald Ray Elston (April 6, 1929 - January 2, 1995) was a right-handed relief pitcher from Campbellstown, Ohio, who spent parts of nine major league seasons, all but one inning of them with the Chicago Cubs. Signed by the Cubs as an amateur free agent in December 1947, he pitched eight straight seasons in the minors from 1948 through 1955, interrupted only by a September 1953 look in Chicago, then went to Brooklyn with Randy Jackson in the December 1955 deal that brought Russ Meyer, Don Hoak and Walt Moryn to the Cubs. A May 1957 trade for Jackie Collum and Vito Valentinetti sent him back; after a summer as a swingman he moved to the bullpen for good that September. His 69 appearances led the National League in 1958 and earned him the nickname "Every Day," and in 1959 he tied teammate Bill Henry for the league lead with 65, won a career-high ten games, and made his only All-Star team, saving the first of that summer's two All-Star Games at Forbes Field. Across 450 games he went 49-54 with a 3.69 ERA, 64 saves and 519 strikeouts in 755 2/3 innings, and his 658 1/3 relief innings remain a Cubs franchise record.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 194 | 0 | 10 | 87 | 56 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 26 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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. 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #446 card?
It is card #446 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Elston of the Chicago Cubs.
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.