1966 Topps #544 Cards Rookie Stars - Joe Hoerner / George Kernek / Jimy Williams
On this card: Joe Hoerner, George Kernek, Jimy Williams
Jimy Williams' name is printed as Jimmy on both sides of this card.
Uncorrected error: Jimy Williams is misspelled "Jimmy" on the front and back
About this card
The 46 Rookie Stars cards group a club's prospects under one number - except #553, which mixes Braves and Angels, and #591 NL Rookie Stars, which mixes Dodgers and Phillies. The class is headlined by #254 (Ferguson Jenkins, with Bill Sorrell) and #288 (Don Sutton, with Bill Singer).
The story on this card
1966 Topps #544 is a St. Louis Cardinals Rookie Stars card shared by Joe Hoerner, George Kernek and Jimy Williams, a high number from the set's seventh and final print series. It is a rookie card for Kernek and Williams, not for Hoerner, who had already appeared on a shared 1964 Topps Rookie Stars card. St. Louis claimed Hoerner from Houston in the November 1965 Rule 5 draft, and he made the 1966 roster as a rookie reliever, posting a 5-1 record with a team-best 1.54 ERA and 13 saves. A left-handed sidearm reliever for seven clubs across 14 seasons, best known for his 1966-1969 St. Louis Cardinals bullpen work on two pennant winners and the 1967 World Series champions.
Kernek's 1966 Topps card is #544, a high number from the set's seventh and final print series, shared as a multi-player Rookie Stars card with fellow Cardinals Joe Hoerner and Jimy Williams. It is a recognized rookie card for Kernek. The card followed his brief run as St. Louis' Opening Day first baseman, a job that opened up when the club traded veteran Bill White to the Phillies that winter; Kernek started the 1966 opener and 14 more games before Orlando Cepeda's arrival in early May ended his time as a regular, and that pinch-hitting appearance was his last in the majors. A left-handed Oklahoma first baseman who won the 1966 Opening Day job after Bill White's trade, only to lose it weeks later when the Cardinals acquired Orlando Cepeda.
Williams reached the majors with the Cardinals in 1966 after St. Louis took him from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft, debuting April 26 against the Dodgers and seeing time at shortstop and second base. His first hit and RBI came off future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. Card #544 is a high number from the set's final series, a multi-player Rookie Stars card pairing Williams with fellow Cardinals farmhands Joe Hoerner and George Kernek; it is a recognized rookie card for Williams. Both sides of the card misspell his name as Jimmy rather than Jimy. Infielder turned longtime coach and manager who later led the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Astros and won the 1999 AL Manager of the Year award.
Sources: Wikipedia (Joe Hoerner) · Wikipedia (George Kernek) · Wikipedia (Jimy Williams) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 574 | 0 | 13 | 88 | 143 | 151 | 85 | 90 | 4 |
| SGC | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 2 |
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
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- #163 Tito Francona
- #179 Cardinals 1966 Rookie Stars
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #544 card?
It is card #544 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Hoerner, George Kernek and Jimy Williams. The 46 Rookie Stars cards group a club's prospects under one number - except #553, which mixes Braves and Angels, and #591 NL Rookie Stars, which mixes Dodgers and Phillies. The class is headlined by #254 (Ferguson Jenkins, with Bill Sorrell) and #288 (Don Sutton, with Bill Singer).
Is #544 a rookie card for all three players?
No. #544 is the rookie card of George Kernek and Jimy Williams only; Joe Hoerner is not credited with a rookie card on it.
Does 1966 Topps #544 have an error?
Jimy Williams is misspelled "Jimmy" on the front and back. It was never corrected, so there is no variation to chase - every copy of #544 reads the same way.
Why is #544 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.