1961 Topps #381 Dave Wickersham
About Dave Wickersham
The 1961 Topps #381 is Dave Wickersham's rookie card, and it puts the young right-hander with the Kansas City Athletics. Behind it was a September 1960 debut: promoted from Shreveport, where he had worked 11 starts and 58 relief outings, he pitched two innings against Cleveland on September 18, allowed one run and struck out one. Five relief appearances, 8.1 innings, a 1.08 earned run average and two saves were his entire big league record when this card reached packs.
David Clifford Wickersham was a right-handed pitcher from Erie, Pennsylvania, who spent ten seasons in the major leagues from 1960 to 1969. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him as an amateur free agent before the 1955 season, and he enrolled at Ohio University in his off-seasons while working through six minor league campaigns. Kansas City claimed him in the 1959 minor league draft, and he reached the Athletics in September 1960. He worked out of the bullpen before moving into the rotation, and led American League pitchers in winning percentage in 1962. Traded to Detroit in November 1963, he had his best year in 1964, going 19-12 with a 3.44 earned run average for the Tigers and drawing consideration in the American League Most Valuable Player vote. He later pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and, in 1969, the Kansas City Royals, making him one of only four players to appear for both Kansas City major league franchises. He finished 68-57 with a 3.66 earned run average and 638 strikeouts over 283 games. A leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and died in 2022 at age 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 405 | 0 | 44 | 217 | 97 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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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- #106 Whitey Herzog
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- #143 Russ Snyder
- #177 Don Larsen
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- #199 Bob Boyd
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #381 card?
It is card #381 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave Wickersham of the Kansas City Athletics.
Is 1961 Topps #381 a rookie card?
Yes - #381 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Dave Wickersham.
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.