1965 Topps #498 Gene Stephens
About Gene Stephens
Topps still had Stephens in a White Sox uniform for #498, but the picture had outlived the job. Chicago dropped him after the 1964 season, and he spent 1965 back in the minor leagues with the Atlanta Crackers and the Indianapolis Indians, a long way from the Fenway outfield where he broke in. The card closes out his run through the decade's Topps sets, a sixth-series number of a veteran at the end of the line.
Gene Stephens was a left-handed-hitting outfielder from Gravette, Arkansas who reached the majors with the Boston Red Sox in 1952 at age 19, after batting .337 with 22 home runs in his first pro season. Tall and fast, he spent most of his Red Sox years as the primary fill-in for Ted Williams in left field, a role that earned him the nickname "Williams' caddy," while also covering center and right. His best season came in 1955, when he hit a career-high .293 in 109 games. On June 18, 1953 he became the first modern-era major leaguer credited with three hits in a single inning. Traded from Boston to the Baltimore Orioles in June 1960, he later played for the Kansas City Athletics and the Chicago White Sox before his final big-league game in September 1964. Over 12 seasons and 964 games he hit .240 with 37 home runs and 207 RBI. He spent 1966 in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons and closed out his playing days in the minors in 1967. Stephens died in 2019 in Granbury, Texas.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Stats Crew
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 452 | 5 | 95 | 262 | 64 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #234 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #7 American League 1964 ERA Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #41 White Sox 1965 Rookie Stars
- #58 Fred Talbot
- #70 Bill Skowron
- #81 Don Buford
- #89 Mike Hershberger
- #125 Juan Pizarro
- #146 Ron Hansen
- #183 Dave Nicholson
- #198 Smoky Burgess
- #208 Tommy John
- #215 Pete Ward
- #253 Danny Cater
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #498 card?
It is card #498 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gene Stephens of the Chicago White Sox.
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.