1963 Topps #278 Chico Fernandez
About Chico Fernandez
Fernandez was Detroit's Opening Day shortstop again in 1963, but the bat never arrived - seven hits in 49 at-bats across 15 games - and with Dick McAuliffe ready to take over, the Tigers moved him on May 9 in a three-team deal with Milwaukee that landed him in New York. He hit .200 in 58 games for the Mets, was optioned to Seattle of the Pacific Coast League in late July, and a September recall brought his last big league at-bats. This card, 1963 Topps #278, belongs to the third series and still shows him in a Detroit uniform.
Humberto "Chico" Fernandez was a Cuban-born shortstop who played in the majors from 1956 to 1963 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets. Born in Havana on March 2, 1932, he batted and threw right-handed and stood an even 6 feet. Signed by the Dodgers in 1951, he was the International League's All-Star shortstop at Montreal in 1954 and batted a career-best .301 there in 1955, but Pee Wee Reese blocked the road to Brooklyn. In April 1957 the Dodgers sent him to Philadelphia for five players and $75,000, and on Opening Day he became the first player of color to take the field for the Phillies; he held their shortstop job for two seasons. A December 1959 trade brought him to Detroit, where he was the club's first Latin regular position player and its shortstop for three years. He closed out in the majors with the 1963 Mets, a .240 hitter with 666 hits and 40 home runs, then kept playing in Japan, Mexico and the minors. He made his home in Detroit, sold insurance, and died June 11, 2016, in Sunrise, Florida.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 239 | 0 | 19 | 134 | 66 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 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: #552 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #25 Al Kaline
- #44 Terry Fox
- #64 Dick McAuliffe
- #84 Ron Kline
- #134 Bob Scheffing
- #140 Frank Lary
- #164 Bubba Morton
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
- #177 Bubba Phillips
- #218 Tiger Twirlers
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #278 card?
It is card #278 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chico Fernandez of the Detroit Tigers.
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.