1961 Topps #96 Billy O'Dell
About Billy O'Dell
O'Dell's 1961 Topps cards follow his first year in San Francisco, after Baltimore sent him and Billy Loes west in a November 1959 trade for Jackie Brandt, Gordon Jones and Roger McCardell. The 1960 season behind them ran 8-13 with a 3.20 ERA and 145 strikeouts over 43 games, 24 of them starts, and was interrupted in late July when a ball struck his pitching wrist. Card #96 is his series-1 base issue; #383, "Frisco First Liners," sets him beside fellow Giants starters Mike McCormick and Jack Sanford.
William Oliver O'Dell was a left-handed pitcher out of Clemson who signed with Baltimore in June 1954 as their first bonus baby, reaching the majors without a day in the minors. Army service cost him 1955 and most of 1956; back in the rotation from 1957, he made the American League All-Star team in 1958 and 1959. In the 1958 game he retired all nine National League batters he faced, among them Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, closing out a 4-3 win and taking the game's most valuable player honor. Traded to San Francisco in November 1959, he peaked at 19-14 in 1962, then finished with the Braves and Pirates at 105-100 with a 3.29 ERA over thirteen seasons. Ballplayers called him "Digger," after the friendly undertaker of radio and television's The Life of Riley. He farmed near Newberry, South Carolina, worked in textile public relations, coached American Legion ball, and entered the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976. He died there in 2018 at 85.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · SABR Games Project · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 230 | 2 | 24 | 103 | 62 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 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
More Billy O'Dell in this set: #383 Frisco First Liners
Team card: #167 San Francisco Giants Team
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #31 Bob Schmidt
- #55 Jim Davenport
- #72 Stu Miller
- #87 Joe Amalfitano
- #114 Hobie Landrith
- #150 Willie Mays
- #161 Sherman Jones
- #188 Jim Marshall
- #203 Eddie Bressoud
- #220 Al Dark
- #237 Billy Loes
- #258 Jack Sanford
- #279 Jose Pagan
- #294 Don Blasingame
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #96 card?
It is card #96 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy O'Dell of the San Francisco Giants.
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.