1963 Topps #252 Ron Santo
About Ron Santo
The third-series #252 reports the one sour year in Santo's prime. In 1962 he slipped to .227 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI, his second season under the Cubs' College of Coaches, the rotating staff Philip Wrigley used in place of a manager. The glove never wavered: that year he led the National League in assists at third base for the first time, with 332, breaking the Cubs mark Randy Jackson had set in 1951. The All-Star selections begin with the season after this one.
Ron Santo played third base for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and finished with the crosstown White Sox in 1974. Born in Seattle in 1940, he signed with the Cubs as a free agent in 1959 for a $20,000 bonus and reached the majors a year and three months later. He became the National League's best third baseman of the decade: nine All-Star selections, five straight Gold Gloves from 1964 through 1968, and a bat that produced a .300 average and 30 home runs four times each. From 1963 through 1970 he drove in at least 90 runs eight years running, still the only third baseman in major league history to do it. He led the league in walks four times and set National League career records for assists, total chances and double plays at the position. Santo played the whole time with type 1 diabetes, diagnosed at 18 and kept quiet until a day held in his honor at Wrigley Field in August 1971; the disease later cost him both legs. He called Cubs games on WGN radio from 1990 until his death in 2010 and helped raise tens of millions of dollars for diabetes research. The Golden Era Committee elected him to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2011; he was inducted in 2012.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 814 | 0 | 23 | 235 | 225 | 163 | 80 | 87 | 1 |
| SGC | 194 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 46 | 47 | 27 | 43 | 3 |
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: #222 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #3 1962 National League Home Run Leaders
- #15 Ken Hubbs
- #31 Cal Koonce
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #58 Bob Will
- #81 Jimmie Schaffer
- #95 Larry Jackson
- #113 Don Landrum
- #175 Bob Buhl
- #193 Andre Rodgers
- #212 Glen Hobbie
- #242 Power Plus
- #272 Danny Murphy
- #287 Dick Bertell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #252 card?
It is card #252 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs.
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.