Trying to collect all the best baseball cards from 1953 Topps baseball is much easier than trying to get all the best cards from the 1952 Topps set because it’s not the first set from the manufacturer, and there aren’t that many great rookie cards in the 1953 set.
But that doesn’t detract from the fact that there are TONS of superstar Hall-of-Famers still in this set, including guys like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Throw in the fact that one of the greatest Negro league stars have their one-and-only Topps card in the set, and you’ll agree the best baseball cards from 1953 Topps baseball are deserving of our attention!
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Topps commissioned oil paintings by artist Gerry Dvorak for this gorgeous 1953 set, and Topps continued to battle Bowman for baseball card supremacy for the next three years. The bottom borders on these cards are red for American League players and black for National League players, and the whole set is one-third smaller than the 1952 Topps baseball card set.
You might have already realized, but the Topps Living Set uses the 1953 set design for their cards, since they are all hand-painted images of current and former ballplayers.
Because of battling Bowman for baseball card contracts, they were short six cards – which drove set collectors crazy back in the day. These packs cost a nickel in 1953!
In 1953, the Korean War ended, Queen Elizabeth II began her rule, “I Love Lucy” and “Dragnet” were on everyone’s TVs, “Roman Holiday” ruled the silver screen, and Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk Trio were dropping beats.
The Cleveland Browns won their third consecutive championship in the AAFC, the Lakers ruled the NBA, and the Yankees won their fifth straight World Series. This was 1953!
Also, the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, becoming the first MLB franchise to relocate in 50 years! (“Noted!” says the Brooklyn Dodgers and N.Y. Giants!)
The Cincinnati Reds changed their name to the “Redlegs” in 1953 because of the communist-crazy McCarthyism affecting America.
For our card value rankings, we’re only talking about PSA 5 slabs of these cards, and we used the values from PSA’s online price guide. The card images are provided by BuySportsCards.com. We’re not going to share weird, random cards that are expensive because of a variation.
Following the beauty of Mantle’s first Topps card in 1952, this oil painting version for 1953 is considered even more beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint. This was only single-printed, which means there are fewer of this card than there are of other cards in this set that were double- and triple-printed.
As you’ll see over the course of this “Best of” series, Mantle cards are usually the most valuable in each set – and they are usually the most beautiful of the set, too. It’s tough to find one prettier than this one.
This was Mantle’s last Topps card until the 1956 set came out because of contract limitations.
View 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay!
The “Say Hey Kid” was missing from the New York Giants baseball club in 1953 because he was drafted into the Army in 1952 to fight in the Korean War. But Topps wasn’t about to skip putting him in this set. His card is second only to Mantle’s card among the best baseball cards from 1953 Topps baseball set.
It’s one of the best looking Mays cards, also. (He kinda has a young Jay-Z look, no?) Mets fans likely love this card also, even though the hat and jersey is N.Y. Giants, well before the expansion Mets.
An interesting point is that since Mays played for so long (23 seasons), and he hit 660 career home runs, what would he have totaled if he played all of 1952 (instead of just 34 games before being drafted into the Korean War) and 1953? He hit 20 home runs in 1951 and 41 home runs in 1954, so let’s say he would’ve hit 30 home runs in his two missing seasons. That would put him at 720 home runs – and he would have passed Babe Ruth in 1973, one year earlier than Hank Aaron!
View 1953 Topps Willie Mays Cards on eBay!
While Robinson’s card was going to be highly sought after anyway, this 1953 version has an even higher premium because it was the first card of the set. That meant, much like Andy Pafko in 1952, finding Robinson’s card in a high-grade condition was tougher than normal. However, on the other end of the set is Milt Bolling, whose Card No. 280 is a much easier get price-wise.
View 1953 Jackie Robinson Cards on eBay!
This was the one and only Satchell Paige card, and it’s considered an uncorrected error, since Satchel’s name is spelled with just one L in real life, and two L’s are on the card. Also, the Browns moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season.
To really understand the magnitude of this card, consider that Paige’s pitching career started in the Negro Leagues back in 1927, when he was just 20 years old. He broke into the majors in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians, when he was an amazing 41 years old. He made the American League All-Star team four seasons later – in 1952, in his second year with the St. Louis Browns.
Stick around to the end for some Satchell Paige trivia!
View 1953 Topps Satchel Paige Cards on eBay!
As well-loved and funny as Yogi Berra was, this oil painted image of him is one of the very few that captures his intensity and competitiveness on the field. He’s one of my all-time favorite players, and he deserves a spot in your collection – even if it’s one of the later years.
View 1953 Topps Yogi Berra Cards on eBay!
This 1953 set is interesting because it had players like Jackie Robinson and Warren Spahn, who missed playing time because of their military service during World War II. But it also had players who missed playing time because of the Korean War, like Willie Mays and Whitey Ford.
Fans of Greg Maddux should be intrigued by Spahn’s cards, too, as both Hall-of-Fame pitchers used their guile and control to out-think and out-maneuver their opponents more than just overpowering stuff. Spahn finished with 363 wins, with Maddux not far behind at 355 victories.
View 1953 Topps Warren Spahn Cards on eBay!
Ford’s rookie season came in 1950, when he famously began his career with a 9-0 record with the Yankees, then he missed a couple seasons in 1951 and 1952 because of the Korean War.
Thankfully, this card doesn’t have Whitey striking the same exact pose as he did for his 1957, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1966 and 1967 cards. It’s like he was always reaching for a doorknob that wasn’t there.
View 1953 Topps Whitey Ford Cards on eBay!
Just one of a couple great rookie cards in this set, Podres is most famous for throwing a shutout in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series to help give the Brooklyn Dodgers their first title (and only championship in Brooklyn!). (He was the first player to ever win the World Series MVP award, which started being awarded in 1955.)
Podres would go on to win four World Series with the Dodgers and he was named to four NL All-Star teams.
View 1953 Topps Johnny Podres Cards on eBay!
Surprisingly, Gilliam is a relatively unknown star from this era, but after learning about him, it makes sense his rookie card is among the best baseball cards from 1953 Topps Baseball. He helped the Dodgers get to four World Series, winning one of them, and he was the 1953 NL Rookie of the Year. He played in the majors for 14 years, and he was a two-time All-Star.
He played with Baltimore Elite Giants in the Negro Leagues before joining the Dodgers, and he would later go on to become one of the first African-American coaches in the majors!
View 1953 Topps Jim Gilliam Cards on eBay!
Yogi’s NL counterpart, with a much lower collectability profile. Part of that is due to him being a catcher, and part is likely due to him being a Dodger instead of a Yankee. (Same likely goes for Duke Snider, in my opinion.)
View 1953 Topps Roy Campanella Cards on eBay!
Other Great Cards From 1952 Topps Baseball to Consider:
Let’s talk about Satchel Paige again, whose rookie card landed among the best baseball cards of the 1953 Topps Baseball set!
One more crazy stat to add to the Satchel Paige story came in 1965. Paige came back to pitch three innings at the age of 59 years old for the Athletics in Kansas City (where he starred for the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs in the early 1940s).
Also, while he was born Leroy Robert Page, he would eventually change his last name to “Paige,” and he ended up being nicknamed “Satchel” because he was always toting bags for work at a train station during his childhood.
This is a series we’ve created where we look at the most valuable baseball cards from different years in Topps Baseball history! Here are the years we’ve already covered:
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