1962 Topps #456 Joe Amalfitano
About Joe Amalfitano
The Colt .45s did not trade for Amalfitano; they drafted him, second overall in the premium phase of the October 10, 1961 expansion draft. He opened Houston's first season as its regular second baseman, 110 of his 117 games at the position, batting .237 with 45 walks, 27 RBI and 72 double plays. Card #456 sits in the sixth series, a mid-set number.
John Joseph Amalfitano, born January 23, 1934 in San Pedro, California, was a right-handed infielder who played ten major league seasons between 1954 and 1967. The New York Giants signed him as a bonus baby in February 1954, and the rule of that era pinned him to the big-league bench for two years; he was sitting in the bullpen at the Polo Grounds when Willie Mays made The Catch in the 1954 World Series. Four seasons in the minors followed, and he came back to the National League in 1960 with the San Francisco Giants, later playing for the Houston Colt .45s and Chicago Cubs. Mostly a second baseman, with long stretches at third and a few games at short, he batted .244 over 643 games with 418 hits, nine home runs and 123 RBI. His last game came June 27, 1967, and he moved straight into coaching: parts of three seasons managing the Cubs from 1979 to 1981 (66-116), sixteen years as the Los Angeles Dodgers' third base coach including the 1988 World Series title, and a long closing run teaching infielders in the Giants organization before retiring in January 2021.
Sources: Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 191 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 73 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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 #456 card?
It is card #456 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Amalfitano of the Houston Colt .45's.
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.