1965 Topps #261 Duke Carmel
About Duke Carmel
1965 Topps #261 places Carmel in the set's third series; he had first reached the majors back in 1959. The photo shows him in New York Yankees colors after the Yankees took him out of the Mets chain in the Rule 5 draft, rewarding his power surge at Buffalo. He opened the season on the Yankee roster playing for Johnny Keane, his old St. Louis manager, but went hitless in eight at-bats and was sent back to Buffalo in early May. Those eight empty trips closed out his major league career, and this was the last Topps card of his playing days.
Leon James "Duke" Carmel, born April 23, 1937, in New York City, was a left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder and first baseman listed at 6'3" and 202 pounds. He graduated from Ben Franklin High School in East Harlem and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955. In his third minor league season, in the Class C Pioneer League, he led the circuit with 118 runs and 121 RBI, batted a career-high .324 and was named an All-Star. Carmel debuted with the Cardinals on September 10, 1959, starting six games in center field, and got a second September trial in 1960. He spent 1961 and 1962 in the minors, including stints in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians organizations, before returning to St. Louis in 1963 for what proved to be his only full major league season, one he split between the Cardinals and the Mets. A last trial with the Yankees followed in 1965. Carmel batted .211 in all or parts of four seasons, collecting 48 hits, seven doubles, three triples, four home runs and 23 RBI in 124 games, and retired after the 1967 minor league season. He died August 3, 2021, in New Orleans.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 235 | 0 | 24 | 114 | 59 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 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. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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- #30 Jim Bouton
- #65 Tony Kubek
- #97 Pedro Gonzalez
- #115 Bobby Richardson
- #131 Johnny Keane
- #133 World Series Game #2 - Stottlemyre Wins
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #261 card?
It is card #261 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Duke Carmel of the New York Yankees.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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.