1963 Topps #18 Buc Blasters
On this card: Smoky Burgess, Dick Stuart, Bob Clemente, Bob Skinner
About this card
This is one of the eleven combination cards in the 1963 Topps set (#18, 43, 68, 138, 173, 218, 242, 306, 331, 392, 412), each pairing two or three players under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
The story on this card
Topps titled #18 Buc Blasters, a play on the Pirates' Bucs nickname, and used the card to line up four Pittsburgh run producers together: catcher Smoky Burgess, first baseman Dick Stuart, right fielder Bob Clemente and left fielder Bob Skinner. All four had helped the 1962 Pirates finish 93-68, fourth in the National League and eight games behind the champion San Francisco Giants. Stuart had already been traded to the Red Sox on November 20, 1962, with Jack Lamabe for Jim Pagliaroni and Don Schwall, before this set was issued, and Skinner went to Cincinnati on May 23, 1963 for Jerry Lynch. It is a first-series combination card.
Smoky Burgess was a pudgy, hard-hitting catcher who made six All-Star teams, won a 1960 World Series ring with Pittsburgh, and retired as baseball's career pinch-hit leader after three seasons as the White Sox's designated bat off the bench. A powerful but famously error-prone first baseman known as Dr. Strangeglove, Stuart won a title with the 1960 Pirates and led the American League in RBIs in 1963. Pittsburgh's right fielder for eighteen seasons, Roberto Clemente won four National League batting titles and twelve straight Gold Gloves, was the 1966 NL Most Valuable Player and the 1971 World Series MVP, and died flying earthquake relief in 1972. Pittsburgh's left fielder through the Murtaugh years, an All-Star in 1958 and 1960 and a .277 career hitter, Skinner won rings with the 1960 Pirates and 1964 Cardinals, then managed the Phillies and coached the 1979 champion Bucs.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dick Stuart) · Wikipedia (Smoky Burgess) · Wikipedia (Bob Skinner) · SABR BioProject (Smoky Burgess) · SABR BioProject (Roberto Clemente) · SABR BioProject (Bob Skinner) · National Baseball Hall of Fame
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,018 | 0 | 11 | 219 | 547 | 527 | 330 | 379 | 5 |
| SGC | 563 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 105 | 131 | 169 | 140 | 5 |
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: #151 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #34 Dick Schofield
- #55 Bill Virdon
- #87 Bob Veale
- #101 Joe Gibbon
- #122 Julio Gotay
- #159 Jim Pagliaroni
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
- #184 Vern Law
- #215 Bob Skinner
- #228 1963 Rookie Stars
- #239 Harvey Haddix
- #259 Johnny Logan
- #281 Tom Sturdivant
- #299 1963 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #18 card?
It is card #18 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Smoky Burgess, Dick Stuart, Bob Clemente and Bob Skinner. This is one of the eleven combination cards in the 1963 Topps set (#18, 43, 68, 138, 173, 218, 242, 306, 331, 392, 412), each pairing two or three players under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
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.