1951 Topps Blue Back #45 Bill Pierce
About Bill Pierce
Pierce carried a far bigger load in 1950, working 219 1/3 innings, almost 48 more than the year before, and going 12-16 with a 3.98 ERA for a losing White Sox club. He completed 15 of his 29 starts, up from 8 complete games in 1949. On June 15 he threw his first career shutout, a 5-0 one-hitter over the champion Yankees in which Billy Johnson's fifth-inning single was the only hit. Control was still the problem: his 137 walks tied for the fourth most ever by an American League left-hander, and over 1949 and 1950 he walked 249 batters while striking out 213 in 391 innings. Paul Richards, Chicago's new manager in 1951, had him add a slider and a changeup.
Billy Pierce was the left-handed ace of the Chicago White Sox through the 1950s, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound pitcher who led the club in wins nine times and in strikeouts eight times over 13 seasons. Born April 2, 1927, in Detroit, he threw six shutouts as a Highland Park High School junior in 1944, which earned him the nickname Mr. Zero, and he signed with his hometown Tigers for a $15,000 bonus. He debuted in June 1945, weeks after turning 18. Worried about his control, Detroit traded him to Chicago on November 10, 1948, for catcher Aaron Robinson and $10,000, a deal most historians count among the most one-sided ever made. Once manager Paul Richards had him add a slider in 1951, he became one of the league's best pitchers: seven All-Star selections, the 1953 strikeout title with 186, a major-league-leading 1.97 ERA in 1955, and 20 wins in both 1956 and 1957, each year bringing The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year award. On June 27, 1958, he retired the first 26 Senators before Ed Fitz Gerald doubled. Three seasons in San Francisco, including the 1962 pennant, closed a career of 211 wins and 1,999 strikeouts. The White Sox retired his No. 19 in 1987 and unveiled his statue in 2007. He died July 31, 2015.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 150 | 0 | 15 | 21 | 7 | 20 | 28 | 59 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 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: Team card Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- Red Back #36 Gus Zernial
- Red Back #49 Al Zarilla
- Red Back #51 Eddie Robinson
- Blue Back #2 Hank Majeski
- Blue Back #19 Phil Masi
- Blue Back #26 Chico Carresquel
- Connie Mack's All-Star Eddie Collins
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Blue Back #45 card?
It is Blue Back #45 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Bill Pierce of the Chicago White Sox.
Is 1951 Topps Blue Back #45 a rookie card?
Yes - Blue Back #45 is the rookie card of Bill Pierce.
How many cards are in the 1951 Topps Baseball set?
135 cards across five issues - the Red Backs and Blue Backs (52 each), nine Team cards, and eleven each of Connie Mack's All-Stars and the Major League All-Stars. With the Zernial and Holmes variations and both versions of each Team card the master set is 146. All 135 count toward the full set; Jim Konstanty, Robin Roberts and Eddie Stanky, the three rarest Major League All-Stars, are so rarely seen that collectors often count a complete set as 132 without them.
Sources: PSA, BaseballCardPedia, Trading Card Database, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-26.