1966 Topps #354 Smoky Burgess
About Smoky Burgess
Card #354 is a fourth-series entry in the 1966 set, and by then Burgess's job description had shrunk to one line: hit. His 1965 season ran to 80 games for the White Sox, 75 of them as a pinch hitter, and he made the swings count - 22 hits in 77 at-bats for a .286 average, two home runs and 24 RBI. Knowing he would never be called before the late innings, he spent the early ones out in the bullpen catching relievers to stay loose. The five games he did catch in 1965 were nearly the last of the 1,139 he worked behind the plate; only two more followed.
Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess spent 18 major-league seasons (1949-1967) as a catcher and, in his final years, as the game's premier pinch hitter, playing for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox. A native of Caroleen, North Carolina, the stocky left-handed hitter was chosen for six All-Star squads, nine selections in all under the era's two-game format, and he hit .368 for the 1954 Phillies. Traded to Pittsburgh in January 1959, he won a World Series ring in 1960, batting .333 as the Pirates upset the Yankees, and he led National League catchers in fielding percentage three times, in 1953, 1960 and 1961. Claimed on waivers by the White Sox in September 1964, Burgess was used almost exclusively off the bench over his last three seasons and retired as the career leader in pinch hits, a mark that stood until Manny Mota passed him in 1979. He finished at .295 with 126 home runs and 673 RBI, and is enshrined in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Accounts of his nickname vary, crediting the nearby Smoky Mountains, his father's nickname, his lack of speed, or the fact that he never smoked.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 199 | 2 | 24 | 91 | 46 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 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: #426 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #8 Floyd Robinson
- #25 Pete Ward
- #47 J.C. Martin
- #66 Al Weis
- #85 Eddie Fisher
- #111 Gary Peters
- #127 Ken Berry
- #141 Tom McCraw
- #164 White Sox 1966 Rookie Stars
- #199 ChiSox Clubbers
- #222 American League 1965 ERA Leaders
- #245 John Buzhardt
- #261 Ron Hansen
- #281 Bruce Howard
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #354 card?
It is card #354 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Smoky Burgess of the Chicago White Sox.
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.