1962 Topps #597 Rookie Parade Infielders
On this card: Jim McKnight, Denis Menke, Amado Samuel, Rod Kanehl
About this card
Cards #591-598 are the eight-card Rookie Parade that closes the set - three cards of pitchers, one of catchers, three of infielders and one of outfielders - printed in the scarce seventh series and short-printed on every number. Bob Uecker (#594), Sam McDowell and Dick Radatz (#591), Jim Bouton (#592), Bob Veale (#593) and Joe Pepitone, Phil Linz and Rich Rollins (#596) are among the names.
The story on this card
McKnight spent the whole of 1962 on the Chicago Cubs roster, getting into 60 games, 50 of them as a pinch hitter, and collecting 19 hits including a triple, with six runs scored and five driven in; his last big league appearance came on September 9, and he never played in the majors again. His card is number 597, the infielders entry in the Rookie Parade subset that closes the 598-card set. It sits in Topps' seventh and final print series, the short-printed high-number run, and it is a genuine rookie card - one of the first multi-player rookie cards Topps ever issued - shared with Denis Menke, Amado Samuel and Rod Kanehl. A career minor leaguer with 1,954 games in the bushes, he got two looks with the Chicago Cubs, in 1960 and 1962, and never homered in the majors; his son Jeff McKnight later played six big league seasons.
Menke's rookie card is a crowded one: 1962 Topps #597, a short-printed high number from the seventh series, puts him on a Rookie Parade panel with Jim McKnight, Amado Samuel and Rod Kanehl. Versatility won him a spot as one of eight rookies on Milwaukee's Opening Day roster, but with Roy McMillan settled at shortstop the Braves could not find him at-bats. He hit .192 in 50 games and 146 at-bats, his first big-league homer a grand slam off Earl Francis at Forbes Field on May 15, before being sent to Triple-A Toronto, where manager Chuck Dressen turned him into a first baseman. An Iowa farm boy who signed for one of the biggest bonuses of the pre-draft era, Denis Menke played all four infield positions across 13 seasons and made the National League All-Star team twice as Houston's shortstop.
Samuel's rookie card is 1962 Topps #597, a Rookie Parade subset entry from the short-printed seventh series of high numbers, shared with Jim McKnight, Denis Menke and Rod Kanehl. Those high numbers reached packs at the tail end of a season that began for him on Opening Day at Candlestick Park, April 10, 1962, where he made the last out in his only at-bat against fellow Dominican Juan Marichal. Birdie Tebbetts spotted him behind Roy McMillan and Frank Bolling for 29 starts at shortstop, 23 at second base and three at third, and he batted .206 with 10 doubles and three home runs in 209 at-bats over 76 games. Amado Samuel, born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, was the first Dominican player to primarily play shortstop in the majors, appearing with the Milwaukee Braves and New York Mets from 1962 to 1964.
Card #597 sits in the short-printed seventh series of 1962 high numbers, a Rookie Parade panel Kanehl shares with Jim McKnight, Denis Menke and Amado Samuel, and it is his recognized rookie card. The season behind it began at 28 in a camp where his ninth-inning, two-run pinch-hit double off Sandy Koufax, in a spring game televised back to New York, made him a fan favorite before he ever played a regular-season inning. He debuted April 15 as a pinch-hitter, batted .248 with 87 hits and 52 runs in 133 games, hit the franchise's first grand slam on July 6 at the Polo Grounds off Cardinals reliever Bobby Shantz, and took over at second base when Charlie Neal shifted to shortstop, making 22 errors there in 62 games. Stengel named him one of two rookie untouchables after the 120-loss season. A hustling original Met nicknamed "Hot Rod," Kanehl played every position but pitcher and catcher from 1962 through 1964, batted .241 in 340 games, and was Casey Stengel's favorite utility man and pinch-hitter.
Sources: Wikipedia (Jim McKnight) · Wikipedia (Denis Menke) · Wikipedia (Amado Samuel) · Wikipedia (Rod Kanehl) · SABR BioProject (Denis Menke) · SABR BioProject (Amado Samuel) · SABR BioProject (Rod Kanehl)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 589 | 1 | 7 | 107 | 176 | 142 | 85 | 70 | 1 |
| SGC | 109 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 21 | 4 |
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 #597 card?
It is card #597 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim McKnight, Denis Menke, Amado Samuel and Rod Kanehl. Cards #591-598 are the eight-card Rookie Parade that closes the set - three cards of pitchers, one of catchers, three of infielders and one of outfielders - printed in the scarce seventh series and short-printed on every number. Bob Uecker (#594), Sam McDowell and Dick Radatz (#591), Jim Bouton (#592), Bob Veale (#593) and Joe Pepitone, Phil Linz and Rich Rollins (#596) are among the names.
Is 1962 Topps #597 a rookie card?
Yes - #597 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Jim McKnight, Denis Menke, Amado Samuel and Rod Kanehl.
Why is #597 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. It is also a short print card (42 cards, all in 523-598). Printed in smaller quantity than the rest of the seventh series.
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.