1962 Topps #538 Jack Sanford
About Jack Sanford
Card #538 is Sanford's only card in the 1962 set, a seventh-series high number. It reports a workmanlike 1961 with the Giants: 13-9 with a 4.22 ERA and no shutouts across 33 starts. That 4.22 was the highest earned run average of his seven San Francisco seasons, and 1961 proved to be the last quiet year before the 24-win season that followed.
Jack Sanford, born John Stanley Sanford in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, reached the majors in September 1956, nine years after signing his first professional contract. At 28 he won the 1957 National League Rookie of the Year award with the Phillies, going 19-8 with a 3.08 ERA, a major-league-best 188 strikeouts and an All-Star selection. Philadelphia traded him to San Francisco in December 1958 for Ruben Gomez and Valmy Thomas, and he spent seven seasons with the Giants, leading the National League with six shutouts in 1960 and winning 24 games in 1962. That October, in his only World Series, he shut out the Yankees on three hits in Game 2 and lost the 1-0 Game 7 duel with Ralph Terry that ended on Willie McCovey's liner into Bobby Richardson's glove. He retired in 1967 at 137-101 with a 3.69 ERA and 1,182 strikeouts, coached Cleveland's pitchers in 1968 and 1969, and spent two decades as a country-club golf director. He died in 2000 at age 70.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 342 | 0 | 21 | 179 | 95 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 35 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #538 card?
It is card #538 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jack Sanford of the San Francisco Giants.
Why is #538 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.