1962 Topps #551 Harry Bright
About Harry Bright
Bright's second Washington season was the best of his career: 113 games, 392 at-bats, a .273 average, 17 home runs, and 67 RBI, nearly all of it from first base. More than half his career home runs and better than half his career RBI came in that one summer. Number 551 in the 1962 Topps set lands in the seventh and final series, a high number that collectors still chase; his Washington card had already appeared in the previous year's set.
Harry James Bright (1929-2000) grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and was signed as a 16-year-old catching prospect by a New York Yankees scout, then spent a dozen years and fourteen minor-league clubs waiting for a call that nearly never came. He could handle every infield position, catch, and play the outfield, and he could hit: a .413 average for Clovis in the Class C West Texas-New Mexico League in 1950, a league-leading 101 RBI as a 22-year-old playing manager at Janesville in 1952, and a PCL-best 119 RBI for Salt Lake City in 1960. Pittsburgh finally brought him up in July 1958, at 28. Over all or parts of eight seasons with the Pirates, Washington Senators, Cincinnati Reds, Yankees, and Chicago Cubs he batted .255 with 214 hits, 32 home runs, and 126 RBI, his best year coming for the 1962 Senators. He is remembered most for one swing: pinch-hitting in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series, he struck out to end the game and hand Sandy Koufax a record fifteen strikeouts. Bright later managed in the Cubs, Royals, Athletics, Brewers, and Braves farm systems, scouted for the Montreal Expos, and died in Sacramento in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 298 | 0 | 12 | 122 | 111 | 29 | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 35 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #206 Washington Senators Team
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #551 card?
It is card #551 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Harry Bright of the Washington Senators.
Why is #551 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-598) from the seventh print series, distributed last and in the smallest quantity - the toughest cards in the set and home to all 42 short prints and the Rookie Parade.
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.