1962 Topps #439 Jerry Buchek
About Jerry Buchek
Buchek's 1962 Topps card, number 439 in the set's fifth series, is his first Topps issue and a recognized rookie card, picturing him with the St. Louis Cardinals. Topps printed it off a 1961 trial that had gone badly, 12 hits in 90 at-bats, and he then spent all of 1962 back in the minors, batting .183 between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Atlanta. Cardinals consultant Branch Rickey suggested he switch to pitching on the strength of his arm; the club said no, and a swing change worked out with Atlanta manager Harry Walker instead carried him to a .287 season in 1963.
Gerald Peter Buchek, born May 9, 1942 in St. Louis, was a right-handed-hitting infielder who signed with his hometown Cardinals out of McKinley High School for a bonus big enough to start him in the high minors at 18. He debuted on June 30, 1961 but did not hold a major league job until 1964, and across all or parts of seven seasons he was a versatile reserve who filled in at shortstop, second base and third. He was part of the Cardinals' 1964 World Series championship team, singling off Jim Bouton in his only Series at-bat. Traded to the New York Mets before the 1967 season, he finally got everyday work and set personal bests in games, hits, home runs and runs batted in. He finished with a .220 average, 259 hits, 22 home runs and 108 runs batted in over 421 games, spent one more year in Triple-A, and walked away at 27. He worked as a union meatcutter in St. Louis and later sold cars, and he died on January 2, 2019 in Springfield, Missouri, at 76.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 200 | 0 | 13 | 73 | 78 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 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 #439 card?
It is card #439 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jerry Buchek of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Is 1962 Topps #439 a rookie card?
Yes - #439 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of Jerry Buchek.
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.