1966 Topps #489 Curt Simmons
About Curt Simmons
Card #489 comes from the sixth series of the 1966 set, and it reports a hard comedown from a championship year: 9-15 with a 4.08 ERA in 1965, the weakest full season of his St. Louis run. He turned 36 in May of that season and still carried a starter's load, 32 starts and 203 innings across 34 games. It was the last 200-inning season of his career.
Curt Simmons, a left-hander, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947 for a $65,000 bonus and debuted that September at 18. Paired with Robin Roberts, he won 17 games for the 1950 'Whiz Kids' pennant winners, then watched the World Series from the stands after his National Guard unit was called up for the Korean War, costing him all of 1951. Simmons made three All-Star teams (1952, 1953, 1957) and led the National League with six shutouts in 1952. Arm trouble cost him most of 1959, and the Phillies released him in May 1960; St. Louis signed him three days later. He anchored the Cardinals' rotation through the 1964 championship, starting Games Three and Six of the World Series with a 2.51 ERA. Sold to the Chicago Cubs in 1966 and to the California Angels in 1967, he retired at 193-183 with a 3.54 ERA and 1,697 strikeouts across 20 seasons. The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame took him in 1968, and the Phillies added him to their Wall of Fame in 1993. He later ran Limekiln Golf Club near Ambler, Pennsylvania, which he owned with Roberts, and died in 2022 at 93.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 332 | 4 | 40 | 169 | 71 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 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: #379 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #7 Tracy Stallard
- #26 Ray Sadecki
- #60 Curt Flood
- #76 Red Schoendienst
- #91 Bob Uecker
- #103 Dick Groat
- #125 Lou Brock
- #137 Pat Corrales
- #142 Don Dennis
- #163 Tito Francona
- #179 Cardinals 1966 Rookie Stars
- #206 Alvin Jackson
- #225 National League 1965 Strikeout Leaders
- #243 Nelson Briles
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #489 card?
It is card #489 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Curt Simmons of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Why is #489 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.