1963 Topps #181 Sammy Esposito
About Sammy Esposito
Esposito's tenth and final big-league season was mostly a formality: a sore arm held him to one White Sox appearance, a ninth-inning pinch-running turn on April 16, and Chicago released him on May 9 as the roster came down to 25. He turned down a scouting offer, signed with the Kansas City Athletics on May 26, and collected five hits in 18 games, singling off Frank Lary in his last at-bat on August 23. Card 181 belongs to the second print series; it still shows him in White Sox colors, though his Chicago career ended that May.
Sammy Esposito was a utility infielder who spent parts of ten major league seasons (1952, 1955-1963) with the Chicago White Sox and, at the very end, the Kansas City Athletics. A three-sport star at Chicago's Fenger High School, he signed with the White Sox in August 1952 and debuted that September as the youngest player in the majors, then spent 1953 in the minors before an Army hitch kept him away until 1955. Third base was his main post, with regular work at shortstop and second, and he spent his prime as the reserve behind Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox, valued for his glove and his patience far more than his bat: .207 with 8 home runs and 73 RBI in 560 games, but a .330 on-base percentage. His signature year was 1959, when the White Sox won the American League pennant and he appeared in two games of the World Series the Dodgers took in six. He then coached North Carolina State for 21 seasons (1967-1987), going 513-253-4 with ACC titles in 1968, 1973, 1974 and 1975, and was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 314 | 0 | 28 | 145 | 111 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
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: #288 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #16 Al Smith
- #35 John Buzhardt
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #66 Mike Joyce
- #86 Charley Maxwell
- #100 Joe Cunningham
- #118 Sherm Lollar
- #160 Juan Pizarro
- #223 Eddie Fisher
- #234 Dave Nicholson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #181 card?
It is card #181 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sammy Esposito of the Chicago White Sox.
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.