1964 Topps #281 Yankees Rookie Stars - Jake Gibbs / Tom Metcalf
On this card: Jake Gibbs, Tom Metcalf
The rookie-card designation on this Rookie Stars pairing belongs to Tom Metcalf; Jake Gibbs already had a Topps card of his own in 1962.
About this card
This is one of the fifty-seven two-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1964 Topps set: fifty-three pair two prospects from one club, and the four league cards (#548, #564, #568 and #572) pair prospects from two clubs. Every one of them is a rookie card for at least one of its two players.
The story on this card
Card #281 again, this time 'Yankees 1964 Rookie Stars,' a third-series pairing with pitcher Tom Metcalf, the same printed number that carried Gibbs's own card two years earlier. The back reports 1963: four games and eight at-bats around another season at Richmond, the year New York began turning the college infielder into a catcher. The rookie billing on this one belongs to Metcalf, since Gibbs already had a card of his own. Jake Gibbs was Ole Miss's All-America quarterback and the 1961 Sugar Bowl MVP, who passed up pro football for a six-figure Yankees bonus, caught in the Bronx from 1962 to 1971, and went home to coach the Rebels' baseball team for 19 seasons.
Metcalf's lone big-league season, 1963 with the Yankees, is captured on this multi-player Rookie Stars card from the 1964 Topps set's third series, which he shares with fellow Yankees prospect Jake Gibbs. Metcalf appeared in eight relief outings for New York that year, posting a 1-0 record with a 2.77 ERA over 13 innings and three strikeouts, and rode the Yankees' bench through their World Series sweep by the Dodgers without appearing in the Series. This card is a recognized rookie card for Metcalf. Wisconsin-born right-hander whose only big-league season came in relief for the pennant-winning 1963 Yankees, earning his lone win in a September comeback over Baltimore capped by a Mickey Mantle pinch-hit homer.
Sources: Wikipedia (Jake Gibbs) · Wikipedia (Tom Metcalf) · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac (Jake Gibbs) · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 293 | 0 | 30 | 128 | 79 | 27 | 15 | 10 | 4 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
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- #50 Mickey Mantle
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- #118 John Blanchard
- #139 World Series Game #4 - Sealing Yanks' Doom
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #281 card?
It is card #281 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jake Gibbs and Tom Metcalf. This is one of the fifty-seven two-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1964 Topps set: fifty-three pair two prospects from one club, and the four league cards (#548, #564, #568 and #572) pair prospects from two clubs. Every one of them is a rookie card for at least one of its two players.
Is 1964 Topps #281 a rookie card?
Yes - #281 is the rookie card of Tom Metcalf. Jake Gibbs had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
How many cards are in the 1964 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 589 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 587 with no gaps, and no number carries two different cards; two cards - #4, the A.L. Pitching Leaders, and #517, the seventh-series checklist - carry a catalogued back variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball Almanac, 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 2026-10-11.