1971 Topps #609 Leo Durocher
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 Leo Durocher
Topps put him in its manager subset on #609, a fifth-series card that names Chicago as his club. His Wrigley Field years brought a clubhouse confrontation in which he nearly came to blows with Ron Santo, and a running dilemma over Ernie Banks, whose bad knees made him a liability and whose standing made benching him impossible.
Leo Durocher spent nearly half a century in the major leagues, first as a shortstop known for his fielding and later as an outspoken manager who clashed with umpires, the press and the commissioner. He got a two-game trial with the 1925 Yankees, became a regular there in 1928 and played through 1945 with the Reds, Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers, winning World Series rings as a player in 1928 and 1934. Known as "Leo the Lip," he became Brooklyn's player-manager in 1939 and led the Dodgers to the 1941 pennant. He took over the New York Giants in 1948, winning the 1951 pennant on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" and sweeping the 1954 World Series. He returned to the dugout in 1966 to manage the Chicago Cubs into 1972, then closed his career with the Houston Astros, retiring with 2,008 wins, then fifth all-time among managers. The line "nice guys finish last," a newspaper condensation of a 1946 remark he later adopted, entered the language. Durocher died in 1991 and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1994 by the Veterans Committee.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 359 | 0 | 4 | 106 | 159 | 53 | 24 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 43 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
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: #502 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #12 Johnny Callison
- #38 Jim Colborn
- #64 1970 National League RBI Leaders
- #66 1970 National League Home Run Leaders
- #70 1970 National League Pitching Leaders
- #72 1970 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #90 Joe Pepitone
- #98 Joe Decker
- #121 Cubs 1971 Rookie Stars
- #151 Tommy Davis
- #175 Jim Hickman
- #203 Larry Gura
- #220 Ron Santo
- #248 Hoyt Wilhelm
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #609 card?
It is card #609 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Leo Durocher of the Chicago Cubs. 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.