1962 Topps #162 Sammy Drake
About Sammy Drake
Drake was taken by the New York Mets in the 1961 expansion draft and played 25 games for the first-year club at second and third base, batting .192 with 10 hits and seven RBI in 52 at-bats, none of them going for extra bases. It was his last big-league season; recurring knee trouble sent him back to the minors and he never returned. Card #162 comes from the second print series and is a recognized rookie card. It exists in two collectible states, with and without a green tint. Drake later called speed his best asset, recalling a 9.7-second 100-yard dash that he said was printed on his baseball card.
Samuel Harrison Drake, born in Little Rock, Arkansas on October 7, 1934, was a switch-hitting infielder who threw right-handed and attended Dunbar High School and Philander Smith College. He tried out for the Kansas City Monarchs, but on his brother Solly's advice he went north to play in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where race was less of a barrier than it was at home. The Cubs signed him before the 1955 season, and that summer he and teammate Ernest Johnson became the first African-American players for the Macon Peaches of the South Atlantic League; Drake hit .251 in 105 games and led the league in stolen bases while facing Jim Crow conditions away from the park. He and his older brother Solly were the first African-American brothers to reach the modern major leagues. Drake got to Chicago in 1960 and appeared in 15 games, mostly as a pinch runner, then in 13 more in 1961. Knee injuries shortened his big-league career, which ended at 53 games and a .153 average. Afterward he worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and taught Sunday school at his brother's church. He died of cancer in Los Angeles on January 27, 2010, at 75.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Print variations
Two states of #162 are tracked individually: 162a - No Green Tint and 162b - Green Tint. The difference is on the front of the card (green tint).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry; each is tracked here individually.
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 162a - No Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 236 | 0 | 16 | 90 | 87 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 162b - Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 76 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 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. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation. 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
More New York Mets cards:
- #4 John DeMerit
- #7 Frank Thomas
- #26 Chris Cannizzaro
- #29 Casey Stengel
- #85 Gil Hodges
- #94 Jay Hook
- #183 Roger Craig
- #213 Richie Ashburn
- #256 Elio Chacon
- #279 Hobie Landrith
- #293 Bob Miller
- #308 Neil Chrisley
- #337 Jim Marshall
- #365 Charley Neal
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #162 card?
It is card #162 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sammy Drake of the New York Mets.
Is 1962 Topps #162 a rookie card?
Yes - #162 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of Sammy Drake.
Does 1962 Topps #162 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked separately: 162a - No Green Tint (No green tint - the standard first printing) and 162b - Green Tint (Green tint - the color-shifted second printing of series 2). Owning any one of them fills the #162 slot; the master set counts each state.
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.