1963 Topps #141 Manny Mota
About Manny Mota
Mota's 1963 Topps card, #141 in the second series, is his rookie card, and it still shows him with the Houston Colt .45's, the club that had acquired him from San Francisco the previous November. He never played a game for Houston; on April 4, 1963, days before Opening Day, the Colts sent him on to Pittsburgh for Howie Goss and $50,000. The only big league line behind him was 1962 with the Giants, 13 hits in 74 at-bats for a .176 average in 47 games. He opened 1963 at Triple-A Columbus and was called up in mid-July, and he never went back down.
Manny Mota (Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo) was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on February 18, 1938, and signed with the New York Giants on February 21, 1957, for a $400 bonus. Five minor league seasons carried him from Class D Michigan City to Triple-A Tacoma, and he debuted for San Francisco on April 16, 1962. Dealt to Houston that November, he never played a game for the Colt .45's; Pittsburgh acquired him days before the 1963 season, and he spent six years as a Pirates outfielder. A June 1969 move to the Los Angeles Dodgers began the long second half of a 20-year career that brought an All-Star selection in 1973, a .304 lifetime average, and 150 career pinch hits, a record that stood until 2001. He then coached the Dodgers from 1980 through 2013, 34 straight seasons and a club record, and was elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His father, Andres, gave him the nickname El Chory, roughly Shorty, and it is still the name people know him by at home.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 403 | 0 | 18 | 179 | 121 | 54 | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| SGC | 41 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 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: #312 Houston Colt .45's
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #24 Bob Bruce
- #45 Bob Aspromonte
- #77 Al Spangler
- #99 Jim Umbricht
- #119 Bob Lillis
- #153 Hal Smith
- #158 1963 Rookie Stars
- #189 Dave Giusti
- #204 Don Nottebart
- #208 1963 Rookie Stars
- #230 Pete Runnels
- #262 Ellis Burton
- #277 Dick Farrell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #141 card?
It is card #141 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Manny Mota of the Houston Colt .45's.
Is 1963 Topps #141 a rookie card?
Yes - #141 is the 1963 Topps rookie card of Manny Mota.
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.