1963 Topps #343 Johnny Pesky
About this card
The nineteen manager cards use the same portrait layout as the players. Twenty clubs, nineteen managers: the Cubs were run by their rotating College of Coaches from 1961 to 1965 and have no manager card.
About Johnny Pesky
Card 343, part of the fourth print series, shows Pesky as manager of the Boston Red Sox, the job he took for the 1963 season after years as a Red Sox player and, more recently, a winning manager of the club's Triple-A Seattle affiliate. His club won 40 of its first 70 games before fading, finishing seventh in the American League with a losing record. The card carries the plain manager caption of the period rather than any playing-days text.
John Michael Pesky, born John Michael Paveskovich in Portland, Oregon, the son of Croatian immigrants, was a shortstop and third baseman who spent a ten-year major league career mostly with the Boston Red Sox. He broke in with a rookie-record 205 hits in 1942, then missed three prime seasons serving in the Navy during World War II. Back in 1946, he led the American League in hits again, made his only All-Star team, and helped the Red Sox to the pennant. He led the league in hits a third straight time in 1947, finishing his career a .307 hitter over 4,745 at-bats. After his playing days he stayed tied to the Red Sox for decades as manager, coach, and broadcaster, becoming one of the franchise's most enduring figures. He was nicknamed the Needle and, for his lifelong devotion to the club, Mr. Red Sox.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 227 | 0 | 5 | 96 | 75 | 27 | 14 | 8 | 2 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 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: #202 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #28 Mike Fornieles
- #52 Chuck Schilling
- #76 Earl Wilson
- #96 Lou Clinton
- #115 Carl Yastrzemski
- #136 Ike Delock
- #168 Russ Nixon
- #188 Eddie Bressoud
- #216 Gene Conley
- #232 Frank Malzone
- #251 Jack Lamabe
- #253 1963 Rookie Stars
- #285 Dick Stuart
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #343 card?
It is card #343 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Pesky of the Boston Red Sox. The nineteen manager cards use the same portrait layout as the players. Twenty clubs, nineteen managers: the Cubs were run by their rotating College of Coaches from 1961 to 1965 and have no manager 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.