1971 Topps #397 Alvin Dark
About this card
Every club has its own manager card this year, separate from its team card, and every one pictures the manager alone. Nine of the 24 managers are Hall of Famers: Bob Lemon (#91), Gil Hodges (#183), Red Schoendienst (#239), Ted Williams (#380), Earl Weaver (#477), Walt Alston (#567), Leo Durocher (#609), Sparky Anderson (#688) and Dick Williams (#714).
About Alvin Dark
Sam McDowell went 20-12 with 304 strikeouts for the 1970 Indians. Graig Nettles, who arrived from Minnesota in the December 1969 trade that sent Luis Tiant to the Twins, hit 26 home runs, and Ray Fosse hit .307 and won a Gold Glove. Dark, who was general manager as well as manager, later concluded no one man should hold both jobs, because a general manager must talk a player's value down and a manager must talk it up. Card #397 is his fourth-series manager card with Cleveland.
Alvin Ralph Dark, born January 7, 1922 in Comanche, Oklahoma and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, lettered in baseball, basketball and football at LSU before Marine Corps service sent him to Southwestern Louisiana Institute and then to China. He signed with the Boston Braves in July 1946 and, batting .322 as a rookie shortstop in 1948, won the last Rookie of the Year award handed out before the writers began naming a winner in each league. Traded to the New York Giants after the 1949 season, he was named team captain by Leo Durocher, hit .300 or better three times, and batted .412 as New York swept the 1954 World Series. Over fourteen seasons with the Braves, Giants, Cardinals, Cubs and Phillies he hit .289 with 2,089 hits, 126 home runs and three All-Star selections. He retired as a player after 1960 and moved to the dugout, managing the Giants, Athletics, Indians and Padres over parts of two decades, winning the 1962 National League pennant and the 1974 World Series. He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Among the three New York shortstops of the years after World War II, he finished with a higher batting average and more home runs than Pee Wee Reese or Phil Rizzuto. He died November 13, 2014.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 262 | 0 | 6 | 110 | 111 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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
Team card: #584 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #24 Rich Hand
- #41 Rick Austin
- #71 1970 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #87 Jack Heidemann
- #107 Roy Foster
- #125 Ray Fosse
- #150 Sam McDowell
- #172 Duke Sims
- #211 Phil Hennigan
- #231 Indians 1971 Rookie Stars
- #252 Eddie Leon
- #275 Vada Pinson
- #294 Steve Dunning
- #324 Graig Nettles
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #397 card?
It is card #397 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Alvin Dark of the Cleveland Indians. Every club has its own manager card this year, separate from its team card, and every one pictures the manager alone. Nine of the 24 managers are Hall of Famers: Bob Lemon (#91), Gil Hodges (#183), Red Schoendienst (#239), Ted Williams (#380), Earl Weaver (#477), Walt Alston (#567), Leo Durocher (#609), Sparky Anderson (#688) and Dick Williams (#714).
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.