1961 Topps #322 Bill Kunkel
About Bill Kunkel
Kansas City grabbed Kunkel out of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in the November 1960 Rule 5 draft, and he spent the entire 1961 season with the A's. He debuted on April 15 against the Yankees, working three relief innings and allowing three hits and a run, then kept answering the bullpen phone: 58 appearances, two of them starts, a 3-4 record and a 5.18 ERA across 88 2/3 innings. Harmon Killebrew took him deep three times that summer. Card 322 lands in the fourth series and is his recognized rookie card.
William Gustave James Kunkel, born July 7, 1936 in Hoboken, New Jersey, was a right-handed relief pitcher whose early climb was interrupted by two years of military service. Originally signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1955, he pitched in the Brooklyn Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers farm systems before Kansas City took him in the November 1960 Rule 5 draft. He lasted three big league seasons, working between Triple-A stops, and finished 6-6 with a 4.29 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 142 2/3 innings. He refereed two National Basketball Association seasons and one in the American Basketball Association while climbing the minor league umpiring ladder, debuted as an American League umpire in September 1968, and went full time in 1969. Over 17 seasons he worked 2,227 regular season games, two World Series (1974 and 1980), two All-Star Games and four League Championship Series, calling his last game in August 1984. He remains the most recent former major leaguer to umpire in the majors. Cancer took him in May 1985, at 48; his son Jeff was a major league shortstop from 1984 to 1992.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 318 | 1 | 13 | 136 | 104 | 43 | 13 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
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Related cards
Team card: #297 Kansas City Athletics Team
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- #57 Marv Throneberry
- #94 Johnny Kucks
- #106 Whitey Herzog
- #119 A's Big Armor
- #143 Russ Snyder
- #177 Don Larsen
- #197 Dick Hall
- #199 Bob Boyd
- #212 Haywood Sullivan
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #322 card?
It is card #322 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Kunkel of the Kansas City Athletics.
Is 1961 Topps #322 a rookie card?
Yes - #322 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Bill Kunkel.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-05.