1963 Topps #551 Billy Klaus
About Billy Klaus
The Phillies released Klaus after the 1962 season, then signed him again on April 1, 1963. He got into 11 games, collected one hit in 18 at-bats, played his last major league game on May 12, and was released for good on May 24. He finished the year in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons, one of the first Americans to follow Don Newcombe and Larry Doby there, and he hated the experience. Card number 551 came out of Topps' seventh series, another high number, and shows Klaus in a Phillies uniform for a season he had already left in May.
Billy Klaus was a scrappy, hard-nosed infielder who spent parts of eleven big league seasons at shortstop, third base, and second base after nearly a decade of minor league apprenticeship. Born in Spring Grove, Illinois, on December 9, 1928, he grew up on his grandfather's dairy farm and broke in with the Boston Braves in April 1952 before a blockbuster trade routed him through the New York Giants system to the Boston Red Sox. There in 1955, at 26, he was named the regular shortstop on June 5 and hit .283 with 60 runs batted in, drawing the sparkplug tag from Boston writers and finishing runner-up to Herb Score for American League Rookie of the Year. He stayed a Red Sox regular through 1957, shifting between third base and shortstop, before a reduced 1958 role led to a trade to Baltimore for Jim Busby. After stints with the Orioles, Senators, and Phillies, and a brief run with Japan's Chunichi Dragons in 1963, Klaus retired at .249 with 626 hits in 821 games. He managed in the minors, ran a painting business in Sarasota, Florida, and North Carolina, and was inducted into the Lake County High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 292 | 1 | 41 | 131 | 86 | 25 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #13 Philadelphia Phillies
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
- #132 Jack Hamilton
- #139 Earl Averill
- #161 Frank Torre
- #192 Clay Dalrymple
- #221 Cookie Rojas
- #241 Billy Smith
- #268 Don Demeter
- #283 Roy Sievers
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #551 card?
It is card #551 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Klaus of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Why is #551 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.