1961 Topps #14 Don Mossi
About Don Mossi
Card #14 in the 1961 Topps set, a first-series Tiger, reached packs just as Mossi opened the finest season of his career. He went 15-7 with a 2.96 ERA across 240.1 innings and 12 complete games, and Detroit won 101 games, a total that would have taken most pennants but left the Tigers eight back of a Yankee club that won 109. The season had its oddities: in a June meeting with his old Cleveland teammates, Mossi surrendered five home runs and still won the game, a Tigers record no one matched for 38 years.
Don Mossi pitched twelve big-league seasons, from 1954 to 1965, as a left-handed control specialist for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Athletics, finishing 101-80 with 50 saves and a 3.43 ERA. Born January 11, 1929 in St. Helena, California and raised in Daly City, he signed with Cleveland out of Jefferson High School and began his pro career at Class C Bakersfield in 1949. Five minor-league seasons went into taming his control before his 1954 debut, when the pennant-winning Indians paired him in the bullpen with roommate Ray Narleski. Mossi posted a 1.94 ERA that rookie year and worked four scoreless innings in the 1954 World Series, the only one he ever reached. Cleveland moved him into the rotation in 1957; he was named an American League All-Star and, entering that game in the ninth, struck out Eddie Mathews. Traded to Detroit after the 1958 season, he became a full-time starter and had his best year in 1961, leading the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Arm trouble shortened his later Tiger seasons, and he closed out as a short reliever with the White Sox and Athletics. His .990 career fielding percentage was the best any pitcher had recorded when he retired, and Cleveland later named him one of its 100 Greatest Indians.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 491 | 2 | 72 | 251 | 111 | 34 | 13 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 32 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 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.
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- #192 Dick Brown
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #14 card?
It is card #14 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Mossi of the Detroit Tigers.
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.