1966 Topps #497 Chris Cannizzaro
About Chris Cannizzaro
Card #497 puts Cannizzaro in an Atlanta uniform for a Braves club he never played a game for. On April 5, 1966 the Mets traded him to the Braves' Triple-A Richmond affiliate for infielder Don Dillard and cash, and he spent the entire season in the minors. The card sits in the set's sixth series. On December 7 the Braves moved him again, sending him with John Herrnstein to the Red Sox for pitchers Julio Navarro and Ed Rakow. Boston never used him either; he turned up the next spring in the Tigers' camp chasing the backup job behind Bill Freehan, one stop in a three-year detour through four minor league organizations.
Christopher John Cannizzaro was a defense-first catcher who spent 13 major league seasons (1960-1974) with six clubs after the Cardinals signed him out of San Leandro High School in 1956. He debuted on April 17, 1960, facing Sandy Koufax in his first at-bat. Steady work came only through the league's two expansion clubs: the Mets took him 26th overall in the October 1961 expansion draft, and San Diego made him its everyday catcher in 1969. Cannizzaro caught the Padres' first game, a 2-1 win over Houston on April 8, 1969, and became the franchise's first All-Star. Never much of a hitter -- .235 with 18 home runs and 169 RBIs in 740 games -- he was prized for an arm that led the majors in caught-stealing percentage in 1962 and again in 1965. Casey Stengel called him "Canzoneri," apparently thinking of the 1930s boxer Tony Canzoneri. He later caught for the Cubs and Dodgers, coached Atlanta's bullpen from 1976 to 1978, then managed in the Angels' Class A chain. He died in San Diego on December 29, 2016.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Baseball Almanac (3)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 199 | 1 | 33 | 106 | 43 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 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. 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: #326 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #10 Tony Cloninger
- #28 Phil Niekro
- #49 Woody Woodward
- #84 Braves 1966 Rookie Stars
- #96 Felipe Alou
- #130 Joe Torre
- #153 Rico Carty
- #168 Dan Osinski
- #184 Denis Menke
- #200 Ed Mathews
- #215 National League 1965 Batting Leaders
- #223 National League 1965 Pitching Leaders
- #237 Billy O'Dell
- #252 Denver Lemaster
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #497 card?
It is card #497 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chris Cannizzaro of the Atlanta Braves.
Why is #497 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series, #447-522 - noticeably tougher than the first five. Nothing in #447-522 is short-printed.
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.