1961 Topps #182 Dave Nicholson
About Dave Nicholson
Card #182 is Nicholson's rookie card, a second-series issue that reached collectors while the bonus outfielder was actually spending all of 1961 back in the minor leagues, mostly in the Double-A Southern Association. The season behind it was 1960: he debuted for Baltimore on May 24, three months shy of his twenty-first birthday, and stuck on the roster all year, hitting five home runs in 54 games. The warning sign sat in the same line - 55 strikeouts in only 133 trips to the plate. For Orioles collectors this is the first card of a six-figure bonus baby, and the only Nicholson rookie card there is.
David Lawrence Nicholson (1939-2023) was a right-handed-hitting outfielder from St. Louis who signed with the Baltimore Orioles on January 26, 1958, for a bonus that contemporary accounts placed anywhere from $100,000 to $120,000. He announced his power early, batting .298 with 35 home runs for Class C Aberdeen in 1959 under manager Earl Weaver, tying for the Northern League lead. He debuted for Baltimore on May 24, 1960, at age twenty, and went on to play for the Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves through 1967. His calling card was towering, infrequent power matched by extreme swing-and-miss: he finished with 573 strikeouts in 1,662 plate appearances, once every 3.4 times he came to the plate. Over 538 games he hit .212 with 61 home runs and 179 RBI. Two more seasons in Triple-A followed before he retired. He died in Carmi, Illinois, in 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · SABR · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 329 | 0 | 9 | 84 | 144 | 58 | 15 | 18 | 1 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #159 Baltimore Orioles Team
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #10 Brooks Robinson
- #26 Wes Stock
- #62 Al Pilarcik
- #71 Jerry Adair
- #85 Jerry Walker
- #102 Gene Stephens
- #125 Steve Barber
- #131 Paul Richards
- #140 Gus Triandos
- #218 Hal Brown
- #240 Ron Hansen
- #256 Billy Hoeft
- #277 Hank Foiles
- #295 Milt Pappas
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #182 card?
It is card #182 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave Nicholson of the Baltimore Orioles.
Is 1961 Topps #182 a rookie card?
Yes - #182 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Dave Nicholson.
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.