1966 Topps #537 Herman Franks
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 Herman Franks
In 1966 Franks led the Giants to a 93-68 record, finishing second in the National League for the second straight year, a game and a half behind the Dodgers. His 1966 Topps card, #537, appears in the set's seventh and final series, the high numbers that are the scarce end of the set.
Herman Franks broke into the majors as a backup catcher with the 1939 St. Louis Cardinals, then spent parts of two seasons with Brooklyn as Leo Durocher's second-string catcher, catching Tex Carleton's no-hitter in 1940. He missed three and a half seasons serving as a Navy lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II. After a brief return with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1947-48, he finished his playing days with one game for the 1949 New York Giants under Durocher, for whom he then coached through 1955, including the 1954 World Series champions. Franks worked as a Giants scout and as general manager of the Pacific Coast League's Salt Lake City Bees before returning to San Francisco as a coach, then succeeding Alvin Dark as manager after the 1964 season. He later managed the Chicago Cubs and served as their interim general manager. A left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, he closed his six-season playing career with a .199 average in 188 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 276 | 1 | 9 | 119 | 84 | 39 | 13 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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: #19 San Francisco Giants
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #1 Willie Mays
- #39 Ken Henderson
- #61 Bob Bolin
- #78 Frank Linzy
- #94 Matty Alou
- #115 Bill Henry
- #132 Orlando Cepeda
- #156 D P Combo
- #176 Jim Davenport
- #215 National League 1965 Batting Leaders
- #217 National League 1965 Home Run Leaders
- #219 National League 1965 RBI Leaders
- #221 National League 1965 ERA Leaders
- #242 Jesus Alou
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #537 card?
It is card #537 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Herman Franks of the San Francisco Giants. 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 #537 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.