1963 Topps #553 1963 Rookie Stars
On this card: Brock Davis, Jim Gosger, John Herrnstein, Willie Stargell
About this card
The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
The story on this card
This is Davis' only card in Topps' 1961-69 run, and his rookie card. Out of California State University, Los Angeles, he signed with the Houston Colt .45s in 1963 and debuted April 9 at age 19, playing 34 games - among them the September 27 contest in which Houston started an all-rookie lineup. On June 14 he hit the only home run of his six-year career, off Giants right-hander Jack Sanford. Card #553 is a Rookie Stars foursome from the seventh and final series, a high number that is scarcer and harder to find well centered than the earlier series. Davis shares it with Boston's Jim Gosger, Philadelphia's John Herrnstein and Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell, a 1988 Hall of Fame inductee whose rookie card this is - making #553 a key card of the entire set. Bryshear Barnett Davis, a left-handed-hitting outfielder out of Fremont High in Los Angeles, broke in with the Houston Colt .45s in 1963, became the Chicago Cubs' regular center fielder alongside Billy Williams in 1971, and closed his career hitting .318 for Milwaukee in 1972.
Gosger's rookie card is 1963 Topps #553, a four-player Rookie Stars panel that puts him beside Brock Davis, John Herrnstein and future Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, one prospect from each of four clubs. Baseball's bonus rule is the reason he was on a big league roster at all: the bonus he signed for forced Boston to carry him the whole season or risk losing him to another club. Gosger was 20 at his May 4 debut and went 1-for-16 in 19 games for Johnny Pesky's Red Sox, not starting until September 21. Jim Gosger was a hard-hustling outfielder from Port Huron, Michigan who spent parts of ten big league seasons with the Red Sox, Athletics, Seattle Pilots, Mets and Expos, best remembered today as the ballplayer immortalized, closet door and all, in Jim Bouton's diary Ball Four.
Card #553 is Herrnstein's first Topps card, a four-player Rookie Stars panel buried in the seventh series - a high number, and one of the decade's great rookie cards because a young Pittsburgh slugger named Willie Stargell shares it. Houston's Brock Davis and Boston's Jim Gosger round out the foursome. Herrnstein started slowly: hitless in eight April games, he was optioned to the Arkansas Travelers, hit .271 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs, and came back in late August. In seven games after the recall he went 2-for-6, and pinch-hitting with two out in the ninth at Candlestick Park on September 24 he homered off Don Larsen to break a 4-4 tie and beat the Giants 5-4. A Michigan football captain turned first baseman, John Herrnstein played five big-league seasons for the Phillies, Cubs and Braves from 1962 to 1966, his best coming with the star-crossed 1964 Phillies.
He shares it with Brock Davis of the Houston Colt .45's, Jim Gosger of the Boston Red Sox and John Herrnstein of the Philadelphia Phillies. All the card had to draw on was a September call-up in 1962: 10 games, 31 at-bats, a .290 average, one run scored and four RBI for the Pirates. That thin line is the whole big-league record of a 22-year-old who had come up through Class D towns in New Mexico and Texas. It is the key rookie card of the 1963 set. Willie Stargell was Pittsburgh's power-hitting left fielder and first baseman, a seven-time All-Star known as "Pops" who won two World Series with the Pirates and, at age 39, took the 1979 National League MVP, NLCS MVP and World Series MVP awards.
Sources: Wikipedia (Brock Davis) · Wikipedia (Willie Stargell) · Wikipedia (Jim Gosger) · Wikipedia (John Herrnstein) · SABR BioProject (Jim Gosger) · SABR BioProject (John Herrnstein) · SABR BioProject (Willie Stargell)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 3,170 | 2 | 34 | 398 | 670 | 717 | 490 | 819 | 40 |
| SGC | 1,441 | 1 | 3 | 54 | 151 | 224 | 335 | 579 | 94 |
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.
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Related cards
Team cards: #312 Houston Colt .45's, #202 Boston Red Sox, #13 Philadelphia Phillies, #151 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #24 Bob Bruce
- #45 Bob Aspromonte
- #77 Al Spangler
- #99 Jim Umbricht
- #119 Bob Lillis
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #28 Mike Fornieles
- #52 Chuck Schilling
- #76 Earl Wilson
- #96 Lou Clinton
- #115 Carl Yastrzemski
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- #7 1962 National League Pitching Leaders
- #29 1963 Rookie Stars
- #32 Tony Gonzalez
- #56 Dennis Bennett
- #71 Bobby Wine
- #91 Dallas Green
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #553 card?
It is card #553 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Brock Davis, Jim Gosger, John Herrnstein and Willie Stargell. The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
Is 1963 Topps #553 a rookie card?
Yes - #553 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Brock Davis, Jim Gosger, John Herrnstein and Willie Stargell.
What are the key cards in the 1963 Topps set?
The #537 Rookie Stars card, Pete Rose's rookie card, leads the set. Beside it at the top sit #200 Mickey Mantle and #540 Bob Clemente, then #300 Willie Mays, #390 Hank Aaron, #210 Sandy Koufax, #340 Yogi Berra, #472 Lou Brock, #500 Harmon Killebrew (one of the four short prints) and the Rookie Stars cards with Willie Stargell (#553) and Tony Oliva (#228). The scarce sixth and seventh series (#447-576) hold the short prints and the hardest cards to find.
Why is #553 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #512-576 - the last and scarcest run in the set. Price guides often band the highs as #523-576, but the printing break falls between #511 and #512.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: 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.