4th Series Review

Here's a look at the breakdown of the 82 cards found in the set's fourth and final series.  I'm counting the two unnumbered checklists here, although technically they would have been released in packs of the earlier series of the set.  The Phillies lead the way with seven cards in this series, and the red-yellow color bar combination continues to be the most prevalent in the set.  Bobby Adams is the lone red-green AND 2B-3B position combo in the series.

Given Topps had already included most of the star players in earlier series, there are only two Hall of Famers present in the final 80 cars of the set.  This is well off the mark of the 15 Hall of Famers found in the set's second series.

Overall Breakdown
80 - Players
2 - Checklists

A.L. Teams
6 - New York Yankees
5 - Baltimore Orioles
5 - Boston Red Sox
5 - Chicago White Sox
5 - Cleveland Indians
5 - Detroit Tigers
4 - Kansas City Athletics
3 - Washington Nationals

N.L. Teams
7 - Philadelphia Phillies
6 - New York Giants
6 - St. Louis Cardinals
5 - Brooklyn Dodgers
5 - Chicago Cubs
5 - Milwaukee Braves
4 - Cincinnati Redlegs
4 - Pittsburgh Pirates

Color Combinations 36 - Red-Yellow 17 - Green-Yellow 12 - Green-Orange 11 - Blue-Orange 3 - Blue-Yellow 1 - Red-Green

Positions
36 - Pitcher
16 - Outfield
7 - Catcher
5 - First Base
5 - Second Base
4 - Third Base
3 - Infield
3 - Shortstop
1 - Second Base-Third Base

Subsets
20 - First Topps Card
16 - Phillies Alumni
8 - Last Topps Card
3 - First and Last Topps Card
2 - Hall of Fame (see below)

Earliest MLB Debut
9/25/40 - #273 Walker Cooper
8/18/41 - #310 Steve Gromek
8/20/41 - #262 Howie Pollet
9/6/41 - #298 Johnny Schmitz
9/9/42 - #302 Eddie Robinson

Most Recent MLB Debut
9/10/55 - #204 Art Swanson
7/17/55 - #184 Don Bessent
7/4/55 - #231 Bob Hale
6/22/55 - #207 Jim Small
6/21/55 - #237 Jose Valdivielso

Longest Active - Last Game
9/28/73 - #292 Luis Aparicio
7/10/72 - #307 Hoyt Wilhelm
9/25/71 - #331 Dick Hall
4/23/68 - #293 Stu Miller
10/1/67 - #290 Curt Simmons

Photo Used Before
49 - Not in 1954 or 1955
8 - Yes for 1954 and 1955
5 - No for 1954, Not in 1955
5 - No for 1954, Yes for 1955
5 - Not in 1954, Yes for 1955
3 - Yes for 1954, Not in 1955
2 - No for both 1954 and 1955

The fourth series features 49 players who did not appear in either the 1954 or 1955 Topps sets.

Topps Flagship Set Appearances
20 - Hoyt Wilhelm
19 - Luis Aparicio
16 - Bob Skinner
14 - Jim Gilliam
13 - Stu Miller
13 - Bobby Shantz
13 - Curt Simmons
12 - Don Hoak

Oldest Players
41 - #336 Ellis Kinder
41 - #273 Walker Cooper
39 - #321 Jim Konstanty
38 - #301 Marv Grissom
37 - #274 Frank Baumholtz

Youngest Players
20 - #263 Bob Miller
22 - #292 Luis Aparicio
23 - #313 Gene Stephens
23 - #264 Ray Monzant
24 - #269 Jack Meyer

Country of Birth
77 - United States
2 - Venezuela
1 - Cuba

Top States of Birth
8 - California
6 - Pennsylvania
5 - Illinois
5 - Michigan
5 - New York
5 - Ohio
5 - Texas

Hall of Fame Gallery

#292 - Inducted 1984

#307 - Inducted 1985

Originally published September 24, 2025