1963 Topps #455 Ruben Amaro
About Ruben Amaro
Number 455 sits in the sixth series of the 1963 set, among the numbers collectors treat as semi-highs. The season on its back is a broken one: recalled to active U.S. Army duty in May 1962, Amaro got into only 79 games and hit .243, with Bobby Wine taking the shortstop job while he was gone. Wine kept a heavy share of the starts even after Amaro reported back in late July.
Ruben Amaro (born Ruben Amaro Mora, January 6, 1936, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico) was a slick-fielding shortstop over eleven big-league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (1958), Philadelphia Phillies (1960-1965), New York Yankees (1966-1968) and California Angels (1969). Traded to Philadelphia for outfielder Chuck Essegian in December 1958, he took over as the Phillies' regular shortstop in 1960. His defense earned the National League's Gold Glove at shortstop in 1964; his bat left him at .234 with eight home runs in 940 games. In Mexico he was called 'Cangurito' after his father Santos Amaro, the Cuban outfielder whose leaping made him 'El Canguro' in the Mexican League. Amaro scouted, coached and managed for decades afterward, taking a World Series ring as Philadelphia's first-base coach in 1980, and in 1986 he and his father became the first father-son pair in the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. His son Ruben Amaro Jr. reached the majors and later ran the Phillies. He died on March 31, 2017.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 202 | 0 | 3 | 81 | 80 | 30 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 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: #13 Philadelphia Phillies
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- #7 1962 National League Pitching Leaders
- #29 1963 Rookie Stars
- #32 Tony Gonzalez
- #56 Dennis Bennett
- #71 Bobby Wine
- #91 Dallas Green
- #132 Jack Hamilton
- #139 Earl Averill
- #161 Frank Torre
- #192 Clay Dalrymple
- #221 Cookie Rojas
- #241 Billy Smith
- #268 Don Demeter
- #283 Roy Sievers
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #455 card?
It is card #455 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ruben Amaro of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Why is #455 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
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.