1958 Topps #148 Billy Consolo
About Billy Consolo
Card number 148 in the 1958 Topps set shows Billy Consolo with the Boston Red Sox and comes from the second print series of a 494-card issue that skips number 145. The stats on the back reflect 1957, his best big-league season: a .270 average with four home runs and 19 RBI in 68 games, mostly at shortstop and second base. In 1958 itself he hit .125 in 46 games.
William Angelo Consolo was born August 18, 1934, in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Los Angeles, where he starred at Dorsey High School and won a national American Legion title with the Crenshaw Post 715 club in 1951. The most courted schoolboy on the West Coast, he signed with the Boston Red Sox for a reported $60,000 on February 2, 1953, the day he graduated, and the bonus rule parked him on a big-league bench at eighteen before he had played a single minor-league game. A right-handed-hitting infielder who would log more games at shortstop than at second and third combined, he spent parts of seven seasons with Boston, his best coming in 1957 when he batted .270 in 68 games. He later played for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Athletics, closing a ten-year major-league career in 1962 with a .221 average in 603 games. He cut hair at a downtown Los Angeles hotel and taught sports at Los Angeles Pierce College before boyhood friend Sparky Anderson brought him back in uniform as a Detroit Tigers coach from 1979 through 1992 and again in 1995, a stretch that included the 1984 World Series champions. He died March 27, 2008.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 320 | 0 | 8 | 127 | 103 | 40 | 23 | 19 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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).
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Live auctions Buy It Now Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #1 Ted Williams
- #18 Frank Sullivan
- #29 Ted Lepcio
- #38 Dick Gernert
- #59 Dave Sisler
- #73 Pete Daley
- #89 Billy Klaus
- #130 Jackie Jensen
- #167 Frank Baumann
- #189 George Susce
- #197 Haywood Sullivan
- #204 Leo Kiely
- #220 Tom Brewer
- #227 Gene Stephens
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Billy Consolo card?
It is card #148 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 Billy Consolo, Boston Red Sox.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Billy Consolo #148 are there?
PSA has graded 320 copies and SGC 21 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.