1962 Topps #3 Pete Runnels
About Pete Runnels
Runnels sits at #3 in the 1962 Topps set, a first-series card that puts him among the first names a collector pulls. He is shown with Boston at 34, coming off a .317 season in which he led American League first basemen in fielding at .995. He would answer the card with the best year of his career, and it turned out to be his last in a Red Sox uniform.
James Edward Runnels, born in Lufkin, Texas in 1928, reached the majors with the Washington Senators on July 1, 1951, after they bought his contract for $12,500. A left-handed hitter with a superb batting eye, he drew 844 walks against 627 strikeouts and played all four infield spots over fourteen seasons: 644 games at first base, 642 at second, 463 at shortstop, 49 at third. Ted Williams rebuilt his approach after the Red Sox traded for him in January 1958, and Runnels hit .314 or better in each of his five Boston seasons. He won American League batting titles in 1960 at .320 and 1962 at .326, and lost the 1958 crown to Williams by six points on the final day. A five-time All-Star, he tied a major league record with nine hits in a doubleheader on August 30, 1960. His career closed at .291 with 1,854 hits and a .375 on-base percentage in 1,799 games, the last two seasons spent in Houston. He coached in Boston and managed the Red Sox for the final sixteen games of 1966, then ran a sporting goods store in Pasadena, Texas, and operated Camp Champions in Marble Falls. He entered the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004, and died in 1991.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 220 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 93 | 55 | 19 | 15 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #334 Boston Red Sox Team
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #35 Don Schwall
- #81 Jim Pagliaroni
- #101 Carroll Hardy
- #117 Gary Geiger
- #153 Pumpsie Green
- #187 Gene Conley
- #201 Ike Delock
- #225 Frank Malzone
- #244 Don Gile
- #276 Hal Kolstad
- #301 Galen Cisco
- #336 Billy Muffett
- #345 Chuck Schilling
- #368 Bob Tillman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #3 card?
It is card #3 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Pete Runnels of the Boston Red Sox.
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.