1969 Topps #47 Paul Popovich
About Paul Popovich
Popovich opened 1969 with the Dodgers before an early-season trade sent him to the Montreal Expos as part of the deal that brought Maury Wills and Manny Mota to Los Angeles; Montreal immediately flipped him back to the Cubs. Playing second base and shortstop for both clubs, he combined for a .284 average, the best of his career, and his do-everything infield work for Chicago down the stretch earned him the nickname Supersub. His 1969 Topps card (#47), from the set's first series, exists in two collector states distinguished by whether the helmet emblem is visible or airbrushed away.
Paul Popovich was an infielder from Flemington, West Virginia who played parts of eleven major league seasons between 1964 and 1975 for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He starred in baseball and basketball at West Virginia University, where he was a teammate of Jerry West, before signing with the Cubs as an amateur free agent in 1960. After a breakthrough 1963 season with the Texas League's Amarillo Gold Sox, he broke into the majors in 1964 and eventually became a valued utility man, capable of playing second base, shortstop, and third base. A midseason 1969 trade sent him from the Dodgers to the Montreal Expos and then back to the Cubs, where his flexible glove work earned him the nickname Supersub. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, reaching his only postseason in the 1974 NLCS against his former Dodgers club. Career totals: a .233 average across 682 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Print variations
Two states of #47 are tracked individually: 47a - Helmet Emblem Invisible and 47b - Helmet Emblem Visible. The difference is on the front of the card (airbrush).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry and the Trading Card Database; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47a - Helmet Emblem Invisible | |||||||||
| PSA | 269 | 11 | 79 | 109 | 25 | 19 | 11 | 15 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 47b - Helmet Emblem Visible | |||||||||
| PSA | 162 | 2 | 26 | 78 | 27 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Not designated by PSA | |||||||||
| PSA | 186 | 6 | 103 | 62 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 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 a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation; PSA slabs whose label names no variation are listed as not designated, while SGC slabs whose label names no variation are counted under 47a - Helmet Emblem Invisible.
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Related cards
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #12 National League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #24 Walt Alston
- #65 Willie Davis
- #94 Hank Aguirre
- #122 Ron Fairly
- #139 Andy Kosco
- #140 Jim Lefebvre
- #161 John Purdin
- #216 Don Sutton
- #241 Jim Brewer
- #266 Dodgers 1969 Rookie Stars
- #289 Bart Shirley
- #310 Tom Haller
- #327 Willie Crawford
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #47 card?
It is card #47 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Paul Popovich of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Does 1969 Topps #47 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked individually: 47a - Helmet Emblem Invisible (Popovich's batting helmet shows no emblem - the airbrushed, common state. Some catalogs split this side further into thick and light airbrush; PSA models one pair, so that sub-split is not tracked here) and 47b - Helmet Emblem Visible (The helmet emblem is visible - the scarcer state, by PSA's population count). Owning any one of them fills the #47 slot; the master set counts each state.
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.