1958 Topps #56 Bill Fischer
About Bill Fischer
1958 Topps #56 is Bill Fischer's rookie card, from the first series, pictured with the Chicago White Sox. It reports his 1957 season, he went 7-8 with a 3.48 ERA in 33 games, 11 of them starts, and won his first big-league game on May 12 at Detroit in relief. The 1958 season that followed went badly, and he was traded to the Tigers with Tito Francona in the middle of the season.
William Charles Fischer, a right-handed pitcher born in Wausau, Wisconsin on October 11, 1930, worked nine major league seasons from 1956 through 1964 for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Minnesota Twins. He signed with the White Sox out of a tryout camp two weeks after his 1948 high school graduation, then spent two years as a Marine Corps drill sergeant during the Korean War. Used as a swingman, he started 78 of his 281 games and finished 45-58 with a 4.34 ERA, 16 complete games, 13 saves and 313 strikeouts in 831 and one-third innings, with only three errors in 229 fielding chances. In 1962 at Kansas City he walked eight men all season and ran off 84 and one-third straight innings without a walk, erasing Christy Mathewson's 68 and setting a major league record that still stands. He pitched four more years in Triple-A after his last big league game, then coached for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays and stayed in uniform until his death in 2018 at 88.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 351 | 2 | 19 | 136 | 117 | 40 | 22 | 15 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Bill Fischer card?
It is card #56 of the 1958 Topps Baseball set - Topps' sixth flagship issue: 494 cards numbered 1-495 (#145 was never issued), with die-cut player photos on solid-color backgrounds and the first team logos on Topps fronts. It pictures Bill Fischer, Chicago White Sox.
Is the 1958 Topps Bill Fischer #56 a rookie card?
Yes - #56 is a rookie card, one of 103 in the 1958 Topps set.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Bill Fischer #56 are there?
PSA has graded 351 copies and SGC 17 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot. Population is a scarcity guide, not a price - high-grade 1958s are notoriously tough because of the set's chronic centering and print-quality issues.
How many cards are in the 1958 Topps set?
494 issued cards, numbered 1-495 - #145 (Ed Bouchee) was pulled before release and never issued, leaving a permanent gap. The PSA master census counts 534 items: the 494 base cards plus 33 yellow-letter variations, 4 numerical checklist-back team cards, the 'Herrer' #433 error, and 2 unnumbered ad cards.
Sources: PSA CardFacts, Beckett, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research (Topps Archives, 2026). Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-09-30.