1958 Topps #395 Willard Nixon
About Willard Nixon
Nixon's last big league season was a hard one. He made 10 appearances for Boston, eight of them starts, and went 1-7 with a 6.02 ERA before a sore arm ended his career; he spent part of the year at Triple-A and pitched his final game on July 4. His Topps #395 falls in the fifth series of the 1958 set, and shows him with the Red Sox.
Willard Nixon was a right-handed pitcher from Taylorsville, Georgia, who spent his entire major league career, 1950 through 1958, with the Boston Red Sox. He starred at Auburn, where he struck out 20 batters in one game and threw a no-hitter, and signed with Boston in 1948 after scouts from 14 clubs watched him. He never won more than 12 games in a season and finished 69-72 with a 4.39 ERA over 225 games and 177 starts, but he became famous for beating the New York Yankees, who won eight pennants during his tenure. That knack earned him the nickname "Yankee Killer." He was also a capable hitter for a pitcher, batting .242 with two home runs. Control problems, a quick temper and a sore arm limited him, and he retired after 1958. He scouted for the Red Sox from 1959 to 1963 before going into private business, and died in Rome, Georgia, in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 246 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 91 | 45 | 28 | 12 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 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 Willard Nixon card?
It is card #395 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 Willard Nixon, Boston Red Sox.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Willard Nixon #395 are there?
PSA has graded 246 copies and SGC 14 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.