1962 Topps #243 Robin Roberts
About Robin Roberts
1962 Topps #243 lists Roberts with the New York Yankees, and that is no error. Philadelphia sold him to New York after the 1961 season for a little more than the $20,000 waiver price. On March 21, 1962 the Phillies retired his No. 36, the first number the club ever retired, before a Clearwater exhibition against the Yankees, with Roberts himself starting that game for New York. He never threw a regular-season pitch for them: the Yankees released him in May, and he signed with the Baltimore Orioles on May 21, 1962. Card #243 is a third-series card.
Robin Evan Roberts (1926-2010) was a right-handed pitcher who anchored the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation for fourteen seasons before reviving his career in Baltimore. Born in Springfield, Illinois to a Welsh coal miner, he went to Michigan State to play basketball and took up pitching only after he got there; the Phillies signed him for a $25,000 bonus in 1947 and he reached the majors in June 1948. In 1950 he started three games in the final five days, capping the run with a pennant-clinching ten-inning win at Brooklyn for his 20th victory and the Whiz Kids' first National League flag in 35 years, then started World Series Game Two. From 1950 through 1955 he won 20 or more every season, led the NL in wins four years running (1952-1955), and once completed 28 games in a row. His 28-7 in 1952 took The Sporting News' Player of the Year award; he led the league in innings five straight years, peaking at 346 2/3 in 1953, and made seven All-Star teams. He left Philadelphia after 1961 and went 42-36 across three and a half Baltimore seasons, mentoring a young Jim Palmer, then finished with Houston and the Cubs in 1966. He retired with 286 wins, a 3.41 ERA and 2,357 strikeouts, and Cooperstown called in 1976.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 492 | 0 | 8 | 98 | 186 | 103 | 48 | 47 | 2 |
| SGC | 71 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 3 |
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: #251 New York Yankees Team
More New York Yankees cards:
- #1 Roger Maris
- #18 Managers' Dream
- #31 Tom Tresh
- #48 Ralph Terry
- #65 Bobby Richardson
- #88 Ralph Houk
- #93 John Blanchard
- #110 Bill Skowron
- #136 Babe Ruth Special: Babe Joins Yanks
- #137 Babe Ruth Special: Babe and Mgr. Huggins
- #138 Babe Ruth Special: The Famous Slugger
- #139a Hal Reniff
- #139b Hal Reniff
- #139c Babe Ruth Special: Babe Hits 60
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #243 card?
It is card #243 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Robin Roberts of the New York Yankees.
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.