1962 Topps #261 George Alusik
About George Alusik
Card #261 sits in Topps' third series and is Alusik's recognized rookie card - a rookie card of a 27-year-old, which tells you how long Detroit kept him waiting. The Tigers cap on it dated fast. Detroit sold him to Kansas City on May 7, 1962, and he never played another game in a Detroit uniform, so the card became a keepsake of a club he had already left behind. It carries an unusual screen credit as well: the card hangs from a baby's mobile in the closing scene of the 2000 film Skipped Parts.
George Joseph Alusik was a 6-foot-3 right-handed outfielder and first baseman from Ashley, Pennsylvania. The Detroit Tigers signed him as an amateur free agent in 1953, and he waited nine years for steady work: a debut on September 11, 1958 worth two at-bats, then 14 at-bats in 1961. Detroit sold him to the Kansas City Athletics on May 7, 1962, and only in Kansas City did he play regularly. Across five big-league seasons (1958, 1961-1964) he batted .256 with 23 home runs and 93 runs batted in over 298 games. His signature run came from August 7 through August 11, 1962, when he homered in five straight games; he was one of three Athletics to share that franchise mark until Frank Thomas broke it. On August 26, 1962, his ninth-inning walk spoiled Jack Kralick's perfect game, though Kralick finished the no-hitter and Minnesota won 1-0. In January 1965 the Athletics traded him to the San Francisco Giants for Tim Talton; he never reached the majors again, closing out at .206 in 53 games for Tacoma. He died April 20, 2018, in Woodbridge, New Jersey, at 83.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 205 | 0 | 9 | 111 | 56 | 20 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 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. 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 #261 card?
It is card #261 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing George Alusik of the Detroit Tigers.
Is 1962 Topps #261 a rookie card?
Yes - #261 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of George Alusik.
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.