1963 Topps #122 Julio Gotay
About Julio Gotay
Number 122 in the second series shows Gotay in Pittsburgh flannels, the only card in the 1960s Topps run that pictures him as a Pirate. He arrived in the trade of November 19, 1962, a four-player swap that sent Dick Groat the other way to St. Louis, but the everyday job did not come with him: Ducky Schofield held shortstop for the Pirates in 1963 and Gotay was shipped to Triple-A. He got into just seven games for Pittsburgh across the 1963 and 1964 seasons combined, which makes this second-series card the clearest trace of his Pittsburgh years.
Julio Gotay was a right-handed shortstop and second baseman from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, who played all or parts of ten major-league seasons between 1960 and 1969 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros. He reached the majors at 21, debuting for St. Louis on August 6, 1960, and singled off Joe Nuxhall in his first at-bat while pinch-hitting for Ed Bauta. Only one of those ten seasons made him a regular; the rest he spent as a utility infielder, in and out of Triple-A, finishing with a .260 average, 257 hits, 38 doubles, six home runs and 70 runs batted in over 389 games. He was famously superstitious, and teammate Jim Bouton wrote that he carried a dead fish on plane trips to ward off evil spirits. An uncle of infielder Ruben Gotay, he left the game after the 1971 minor-league season, earned a degree in education and taught physical education for years in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he died on July 4, 2008, at 69.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 232 | 0 | 11 | 109 | 87 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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: #151 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #18 Buc Blasters
- #34 Dick Schofield
- #55 Bill Virdon
- #87 Bob Veale
- #101 Joe Gibbon
- #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 #122 card?
It is card #122 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Julio Gotay of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.