1963 Topps #531 Sam Mele
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 Sam Mele
The 1963 Twins matched the 91 wins of the year before, finishing 91-70, but the Yankees ran off with the league and Minnesota settled for third, thirteen games out. Killebrew again led the American League in home runs with 45, rookie Jimmie Hall added 33, and the club hit 225 as a team. Mele's card that season, #531, is another manager subset entry, issued in the set's seventh and final series - a high number.
Sabath Anthony Mele, who picked up the nickname "Sam" from his initials, was born in 1922 in Astoria, in the New York City borough of Queens, the nephew of major leaguers Tony and Al Cuccinello. After starring at New York University in baseball and basketball and serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, he signed with the Boston Red Sox and made his major league debut in 1947, hitting .302 as a rookie right fielder. Over a ten-year playing career with the Red Sox, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Redlegs and Cleveland Indians, he batted .267 with 80 home runs and led the American League in doubles in 1951. After his playing days ended, Mele coached for the Senators and followed the franchise to Minnesota, taking over as manager of the Twins in June 1961. He managed the club into 1967, compiling a 524-436 record and guiding Minnesota to its first American League pennant. He later scouted for the Red Sox for decades until retiring in 1994, and died in 2017 at 95.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 325 | 2 | 34 | 160 | 99 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 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: #162 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Ray Moore
- #40 Vic Power
- #75 Bob Allison
- #89 Dick Stigman
- #110 Rich Rollins
- #127 Bill Tuttle
- #165 Jim Kaat
- #186 Jerry Zimmerman
- #198 Lenny Green
- #220 Camilo Pascual
- #228 1963 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #531 card?
It is card #531 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sam Mele of the Minnesota Twins. 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.
Why is #531 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #512-576 - the last and scarcest run in the set. Price guides often band the highs as #523-576, but the printing break falls between #511 and #512.
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.