1966 Topps #56 Sandy Valdespino
About Sandy Valdespino
1966 Topps #56 shows Valdespino with the Twins in the set's first series. He opened that season starting in left field and hit .364 with a home run over the Twins' first seven games before a slump sent him to Denver that June; he finished the year at .176 in 52 games, appearing in 23 as an outfielder.
Hilario "Sandy" Valdespino Borroto, a Cuban-born corner outfielder from San Jose de las Lajas, was signed by Washington Senators scout Joe Cambria in 1957 and spent eight seasons working through the Senators/Twins minor league chain before reaching the majors in 1965 at age 26. He batted and threw left-handed, listed at 5 foot 8 and 170 pounds. Over seven big league seasons with the Twins, Braves, Astros, Pilots/Brewers and Royals, he appeared in 382 games, batting .230 with 176 hits, seven home runs and 67 RBI, mostly as a corner outfielder and pinch hitter. His best season came as a Twins rookie in 1965, when he helped the club to the American League pennant and appeared in five 1965 World Series games against the Dodgers. He later managed in the Italian League, leading Rimini to a championship in 1983, and died in Moultrie, Georgia, in 2023 at age 84.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 216 | 3 | 32 | 89 | 54 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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: #526 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #3 Sam Mele
- #22 Joe Nossek
- #40 Jim Grant
- #73 Jerry Zimmerman
- #97 Jim Merritt
- #120 Harmon Killebrew
- #181 Al Worthington
- #190 Jimmie Hall
- #207 Frank Quilici
- #216 American League 1965 Batting Leaders
- #220 American League 1965 RBI Leaders
- #224 American League 1965 Pitching Leaders
- #240 Earl Battey
- #264 Twins 1966 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #56 card?
It is card #56 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sandy Valdespino of the Minnesota Twins.
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.