1963 Topps #237 Jim Coates
About Jim Coates
By 1962 Coates was a bullpen fixture, and #237 - a third-series card - carries that season: 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA, 67 strikeouts and six saves over a career-high 50 appearances, only six of them starts. He was the losing pitcher in Game 4 of that October's World Series against the Giants, then came back with 2 1/3 scoreless innings behind Whitey Ford in a 5-2 Game 6 loss, before the Yankees took a second straight title in seven games.
James Alton "Jim" Coates was born August 4, 1932, in Farnham, Virginia, and signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1951. He spent seven years in the Yankees farm system, debuted September 21, 1956, and won a bullpen job in New York in 1959. The 6-foot-4 right-hander worked as a reliever and spot starter through 1962, then had stints with the Washington Senators, Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles/California Angels, leaving the majors after 1967 with a 43-22 record, a 4.00 ERA and 396 strikeouts over 247 games. He was a 1960 All-Star, pitching two scoreless innings in the first of that summer's two All-Star Games, and he won back-to-back World Series titles with New York in 1961 and 1962. His most-remembered outing came in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field: he relieved with the Yankees ahead 7-5 in the eighth, went at a Roberto Clemente chopper instead of covering first so that Bill Virdon scored, then gave up Hal Smith's home run that put Pittsburgh in front 9-7, before Bill Mazeroski ended it in the ninth. His funereal look on the mound earned him the nickname "The Mummy." Coates was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and died November 15, 2019, at age 87.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 241 | 0 | 12 | 105 | 82 | 28 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 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: #247 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #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
- #20 Tony Kubek
- #38 Bud Daley
- #42 Stan Williams
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #60 Elston Howard
- #92 Hector Lopez
- #120 Roger Maris
- #142 World Series Game #1 - Yanks' Ford Wins Series Opener
- #144 World Series Game #3 - Maris Sparks Yankee Rally
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #237 card?
It is card #237 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Coates of the New York Yankees.
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.