1963 Topps #539 Wayne Causey
About Wayne Causey
Number 539 buries Causey deep in the seventh series of 1963, among the high numbers that make the back of this set the hard part. He is an Athletic again, after a 1962 that got knocked sideways early: a shoulder injury put him on the disabled list, Ed Charles took over third base, and Causey only got back in when Dick Howser broke a thumb in August and opened shortstop. The final line read 117 games, .252, 77 hits, four home runs and 38 runs batted in, propped up by a .340 on-base percentage.
James Wayne Causey, born December 26, 1936, in Ruston, Louisiana, was a sought-after third baseman out of Neville High School when Baltimore outbid Detroit and Philadelphia and signed him on June 4, 1955, for a $32,000 bonus. Any bonus above $4,000 made a player a bonus baby who had to be kept on the big league roster for two seasons, and Causey hit just .187 in 135 games as an Oriole. After nearly four years in the minors, a January 24, 1961 trade sent him, Bob Boyd, Al Pilarcik, Jim Archer and Clint Courtney to the Kansas City Athletics for Russ Snyder and Whitey Herzog. Kansas City made him a regular across shortstop, second and third, where he batted .270 with 640 hits in 689 games and drew American League MVP votes in 1963 and 1964. A separated shoulder and the arrival of Bert Campaneris ended that run, and he finished in 1968 with Chicago, California and Atlanta. He took off-season classes from 1956 on and earned an accounting degree from Northeast Louisiana State College in 1965.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 226 | 0 | 16 | 89 | 83 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 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: #397 Kansas City Athletics
More Kansas City Athletics cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #23 Ed Lopat
- #51 George Alusik
- #67 Ed Charles
- #82 Ed Rakow
- #104 Lew Krausse
- #124 Dick Howser
- #157 Diego Segui
- #195 Manny Jimenez
- #214 Orlando Pena
- #236 Bill Bryan
- #253 1963 Rookie Stars
- #256 Jerry Lumpe
- #282 Bob Del Greco
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #539 card?
It is card #539 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Wayne Causey of the Kansas City Athletics.
Why is #539 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.