1969 Topps #521 George Thomas
About George Thomas
Number 521 belongs to the sixth series, and it is a long way from the 1961 card that carries his rookie status. Thomas had spent most of 1968 at Louisville, reaching Boston for 12 games in September, and it surprised people when he made the 1969 opening-day roster. In June the Red Sox made him a player-coach, and he cracked that any curfew he broke was broken in his coaching capacity. Torn knee ligaments in late June kept him out until the final game, so he served as bullpen coach the rest of the way and finished at .353 in 51 at-bats, the best average of any season he played.
George Edward Thomas Jr., born November 29, 1937 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a right-handed utility man who played 13 major league seasons for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins between 1957 and 1971. Signed out of the University of Minnesota in August 1957 for a $25,000 bonus, he was tied to the Tigers by the bonus rule of the day and struck out as a pinch hitter in his lone appearance that September. Three seasons in the farm system followed before an expansion club finally gave him steady work, and he shuttled between Los Angeles and Detroit through the early 1960s, filling in at third base, first base, all three outfield spots and even four games behind the plate. Boston then kept him around for six seasons as a bench man and pinch hitter, and he reached a World Series in that role. He played every position except pitcher and finished at .255 with 46 home runs and 202 runs batted in over 685 games. He later coached seven years as a University of Minnesota assistant and three as head coach, resigning in 1981.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 260 | 0 | 61 | 142 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #1 American League 1968 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #5 American League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #21 Jose Santiago
- #52 Mike Andrews
- #89 Russ Gibson
- #109 Jim Lonborg
- #130 Carl Yastrzemski
- #148 Lee Stange
- #172 Jerry Stephenson
- #189 Red Sox 1969 Rookie Stars
- #215 Rico Petrocelli
- #240 Ken Harrelson
- #264 Bill Landis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #521 card?
It is card #521 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing George Thomas of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
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 2026-10-12.