1965 Topps #202 Leo Burke
About Leo Burke
Topps number 202 for 1965 sits in the third series, and shows Burke with the Chicago Cubs again. The season it opened was his last in the majors and a thin one: 12 games, all off the bench, two hits in ten at-bats. Fittingly for a man who had backed into catching the year before, his final two big-league appearances came behind the plate in extra innings, May 25 against Pittsburgh and May 26 against the Mets, three and a third clean innings without a turn at bat. Chicago sent him to Salt Lake City to keep learning the position, but finger and hand injuries ended his playing days that year.
Leo Patrick Burke, born May 6, 1934 in Hagerstown, Maryland, was a right-handed hitting and throwing utility man who played parts of seven big-league seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. A 1956 Virginia Polytechnic Institute graduate and a ten-letter athlete there in baseball, basketball and football, he signed with Baltimore in February 1957 and debuted on September 7, 1958. Washington drafted him in the December 1960 expansion draft but never played him, selling him to the Angels in January 1961. Los Angeles sold him to St. Louis on March 25, 1963, and on June 24 the Cardinals traded him to the Cubs for relief pitcher Barney Schultz, who became a central figure in St. Louis's 1964 pennant run. Right field was Burke's most-used position, though he also worked at second base, third base, first base, left field and, late on, catcher. Over 165 games he batted .239 with 72 hits, nine home runs and 45 RBI, appearing for the last time on May 26, 1965. He is a member of the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame, the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame and the Salem, Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame. Burke died October 13, 2023 in Riner, Virginia, at 89.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 211 | 3 | 34 | 89 | 53 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 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: #91 Chicago Cubs
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- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
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- #27 Dick Bertell
- #34 Cal Koonce
- #64 Lou Burdette
- #110 Ron Santo
- #149 Wayne Schurr
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #202 card?
It is card #202 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Leo Burke of the Chicago Cubs.
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.