1971 Topps #549 Jim Brewer


About Jim Brewer
Card #549 in the fifth series shows Brewer with the Dodgers. His 1971 season brought 55 appearances, all in relief, a 6-5 record and 22 saves. He posted a 1.88 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings. He also went 3-for-9 at the plate.
Jim Brewer was a left-handed pitcher who spent 17 major league seasons (1960-1976) with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels after the Cubs signed him out of Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma in 1956. His rookie year ended in violence: on August 4, 1960, Cincinnati's Billy Martin flung his bat toward the mound after a brushback pitch, walked out to retrieve it, then turned and punched Brewer, breaking the orbital bone under his right eye and finishing his season. Brewer sued, and after two trials a Chicago jury awarded him $10,000 in 1969. Traded into the Dodgers' organization in December 1963, he picked up a screwball grip from Braves great Warren Spahn in 1964 and built a long run as a Dodgers reliever around it. He helped Los Angeles to three pennants and the 1965 World Series title, and from 1968 through 1973 averaged roughly 20 saves a year, making the 1973 All-Star team at age 35. Brewer retired with 69 wins, more than 130 saves and a 3.07 ERA in 584 games, then spent three seasons as the Montreal Expos' pitching coach and later taught the screwball to Dodgers prospects. He was killed in a 1987 car crash in Texas, driving through a thunderstorm on his way to a pitching clinic.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 311 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 144 | 70 | 18 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 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: #402 Los Angeles Dodgers
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #10 Claude Osteen
- #34 Sandy Vance
- #57 Von Joshua
- #85 Billy Grabarkewitz
- #112 Manny Mota
- #145 Bill Singer
- #188 Dodgers 1971 Rookie Stars
- #207 Alan Foster
- #226 Bill Russell
- #253 Bill Sudakis
- #288 Joe Moeller
- #314 Jeff Torborg
- #341 Steve Garvey
- #361 Don Sutton
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #549 card?
It is card #549 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Brewer of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.