1961 Topps #141 Billy Williams
About Billy Williams
Card #141, from the second series, is Williams' rookie card, printed just as the Cubs decided he was ready. It follows a 1960 spent almost entirely at Triple-A Houston, where he hit .323 with 26 home runs and settled any question about the bat. Chicago called him up in September; he started the last 12 games, batted .277 and hit the first two home runs of his career, the first off Stan Williams at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The season this card was issued into ended with him named National League Rookie of the Year.
Billy Williams played left field for the Chicago Cubs from 1959 through 1974, joining Ernie Banks and Ron Santo in an everyday core that pulled a long-buried franchise back toward contention in the late 1960s. Born in Whistler, Alabama, he liked to say his signing bonus was a bus ticket and a cigar for his father. Bigotry in the Double-A Texas League drove him home in 1959 until Cubs scout Buck O'Neil came to Whistler and coaxed him back. He hit .278 with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs in 1961 and became the first Cub named National League Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star known as "Sweet-Swinging Billy from Whistler" for a short, effortless stroke, he won the 1972 batting title at .333 and finished MVP runner-up twice, in 1970 and 1972, both times behind Cincinnati's Johnny Bench. He played 1,117 straight games from September 1963 to September 1970, a National League record that stood until 1983. Williams closed an 18-year career, the last two as Oakland's designated hitter, with a .290 average, 2,711 hits, 426 home runs and 1,475 RBIs -- a home run total that then ranked eighth in major league history among left-handed hitters. He entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and later coached 19 seasons in the majors.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Internet Archive
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 4,591 | 2 | 52 | 537 | 1,023 | 1,174 | 779 | 1,012 | 12 |
| SGC | 1,446 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 205 | 305 | 385 | 485 | 17 |
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: #122 Chicago Cubs Team
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #12 Moe Thacker
- #27 Jerry Kindall
- #35 Ron Santo
- #58 Joe Schaffernoth
- #88 Richie Ashburn
- #107 Seth Morehead
- #169 Don Elston
- #196 Ed Bouchee
- #214 Danny Murphy
- #231 Dick Drott
- #253 Sammy Taylor
- #264 Glen Hobbie
- #283 Bob Anderson
- #302 Al Heist
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #141 card?
It is card #141 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs.
Is 1961 Topps #141 a rookie card?
Yes - #141 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Billy Williams.
What are the key cards in the 1961 Topps set?
The #300 Mickey Mantle is the grail of the set. The other major keys are #2 Roger Maris, #150 Willie Mays, #415 Hank Aaron, #344 Sandy Koufax, #388 Bob Clemente (printed "Bob" on the front), #287 Carl Yastrzemski (his second-year card), the #35 Ron Santo, #141 Billy Williams and #417 Juan Marichal rookie cards - all three Hall of Famers - and three more Mantle and Mays cards: #475 Mickey Mantle and #482 Willie Mays from the MVP subset and #578 Mickey Mantle from the Sporting News All-Stars. The 22 Sporting News All-Stars (#566-586 and #589) belong to the scarce seventh and last series (#523-589).
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.