1963 Topps #20 Tony Kubek
About Tony Kubek
1963 Topps #20 opens the first series and follows the oddest season of Kubek's career. Recalled to active duty on November 4, 1961, he reported to Fort Lewis, Washington, with a Wisconsin National Guard unit and was gone from the club until early August. Discharged sooner than expected, he was back in the lineup on August 7 against Minnesota and hit a three-run homer off Camilo Pascual in his first at-bat. He got into only 45 games but batted .314 with four home runs and 17 runs batted in, and in a September 9 doubleheader at Boston he went 6-for-10. New York then beat San Francisco in seven World Series games.
Anthony Christopher Kubek, born October 12, 1935, in Milwaukee, signed with the New York Yankees out of Bay View High School in 1954 for a $1,500 bonus. He hit .344 at Class D Owensboro that first summer and .334 at Class B Quincy in 1955, then reached New York in 1957. Used all over the field as a rookie -- 41 games at shortstop, 38 at third base, 53 in the outfield -- he batted .297 and was voted American League Rookie of the Year. He won the shortstop job in 1958 and held it for good once Ralph Houk took over in 1961, pairing with second baseman Bobby Richardson on one of the era's best double-play combinations. A left-handed hitter whose fielding percentage and range factor both bettered league average, Kubek was a four-time All-Star who played on seven pennant winners between 1957 and 1964 and three world champions. After the 1965 season, Mayo Clinic tests found nerve damage at the top of his spine from an untreated neck injury, and he retired. He broadcast 24 years for NBC, received the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters in 2009, and entered the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 562 | 0 | 8 | 121 | 204 | 121 | 68 | 40 | 0 |
| SGC | 66 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 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: #247 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #38 Bud Daley
- #42 Stan Williams
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #60 Elston Howard
- #92 Hector Lopez
- #120 Roger Maris
- #142 World Series Game #1 - Yanks' Ford Wins Series Opener
- #144 World Series Game #3 - Maris Sparks Yankee Rally
- #146 World Series Game #5 - Tresh's Homer Defeats Giants
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #20 card?
It is card #20 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Kubek of the New York Yankees.
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.