1963 Topps #481 Bob Taylor
About Bob Taylor
1963 Topps #481 catches Taylor at the moment his Milwaukee chance evaporated. Eclipsed behind the plate by young Joe Torre, he had won the left-field job in spring training, hitting .353 in six games, when a top-spinning grounder off the bat of Minnesota's John Goryl took a high hop on March 17 and broke his collarbone while he was filling in for Eddie Mathews at third base. He never got right, managing two hits in 29 at-bats over 16 games, and on December 2 the Braves sold his contract to the Mets. Card #481 is a semi-high number from Topps' sixth series - a step scarcer than the common runs.
Robert Dale "Hawk" Taylor (1939-2012), born in Metropolis, Illinois, was a schoolboy sensation who batted .650 as a senior and signed with the Milwaukee Braves hours after his 1957 high-school graduation for a reported $119,000, the richest bonus any prospect had been given to that point. Bonus rules forced the 18-year-old straight onto the Braves' major-league roster, where he rode the bench through most of the 1957 championship season, used mainly as a pinch runner. Once the rule eased in 1958 he spent several years developing in the minors, earning a Triple-A All-Star selection as a catcher in 1960. Injury and Army service limited him to 56 games for Milwaukee across 1961-63, and the Braves sold him to the New York Mets in December 1963. New York gave him the fullest opportunity of his career in 1964, and in 1966 he hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in Mets history. He finished with the California Angels and the expansion Kansas City Royals before a back injury ended his playing days in 1971, then earned two degrees at Murray State and taught and coached baseball in Tennessee and western Kentucky. The nickname came from a boyhood favorite movie serial, "Hawk of the Wilderness."
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 262 | 2 | 16 | 112 | 95 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 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: #503 Milwaukee Braves
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- #1 1962 National League Batting Leaders
- #3 1962 National League Home Run Leaders
- #5 1962 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #46 Tommie Aaron
- #62 Bob Hendley
- #73 Bobby Bragan
- #74 Denver Lemaster
- #109 Lee Maye
- #126 Bob Uecker
- #137 Mack Jones
- #156 Roy McMillan
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #481 card?
It is card #481 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Taylor of the Milwaukee Braves.
Why is #481 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
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.