1966 Topps #552 Birdie Tebbetts
All four published short-print lists tag this high number, but the lists disagree on other cards, so scarcity is stated for the seventh series as a whole.
About this card
One of twenty manager cards in the 1966 Topps set: the Astros have two (#147 Lum Harris and #504 Grady Hatton) and the Cubs have none.
About Birdie Tebbetts
Card 552 falls in the 1966 set's seventh series, the high numbers, and it marks Tebbetts's last season in a big league dugout. Cleveland tore out of the gate by winning fourteen of its first fifteen games, then slid back into the pack, and he was out as manager in August with the Indians 66-57 under him; they closed the year 81-81 and fifth in the American League. Eleven seasons managing the Redlegs, Braves and Indians left him at 748-705. Hobby checklists still disagree over which cards in this high-number run came out in shorter supply than the rest.
Birdie Tebbetts caught for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1952 and was rated the best catcher in the American League in the late 1940s. He did not hit for power and he lacked speed, but he was an exceptional receiver, a smart handler of pitchers and a relentless needler of opposing hitters. Fourteen big league seasons left him with exactly 1,000 hits and a .270 average along with four All-Star selections, and three further seasons went to Army Air Corps service in World War II. He managed the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1954 until he resigned in August 1958, and the 91-63 third-place club he ran in 1956 made him Manager of the Year and landed him on the cover of Time the following July. An executive job with the Milwaukee Braves came next, then a return to the dugout with Milwaukee and Cleveland. He scouted for close to three decades after his managing days, working for the Mets, Yankees and Orioles, and in a 1969 fan poll he was voted the best catcher in Red Sox history.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 307 | 2 | 31 | 130 | 75 | 43 | 16 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
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. Where SGC registers no separate row for a variation state, its slabs of that card are listed under the base state.
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Related cards
Team card: #303 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #16 Larry Brown
- #44 Indians 1966 Rookie Stars
- #65 Leon Wagner
- #88 Fred Whitfield
- #109 Ralph Terry
- #128 Jim Landis
- #129 Jack Kralick
- #133 Don McMahon
- #150 Rocky Colavito
- #169 Duke Sims
- #197 Sonny Siebert
- #216 American League 1965 Batting Leaders
- #220 American League 1965 RBI Leaders
- #222 American League 1965 ERA Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #552 card?
It is card #552 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Birdie Tebbetts of the Cleveland Indians. One of twenty manager cards in the 1966 Topps set: the Astros have two (#147 Lum Harris and #504 Grady Hatton) and the Cubs have none.
Why is #552 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #523-598 - the scarce end of the set. Forty-three of its 76 cards are short prints, so scarcity is stated for the series as a whole.
How many cards are in the 1966 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 613 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no number used twice, and 14 cards carry catalogued print variations - five checklists, the trade and sold statement backs, the three-state #43 Don Landrum, three team-card dot pairs and the #161 Jerry Lumpe white streak - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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.