1961 Topps #248 Ed Keegan
About Ed Keegan
Card #248 in the 1961 Topps set is a third-series number that sits well below the high numbers, and it is the card collectors recognize as Keegan's rookie. It is also the only one of his two 1960s Topps cards to show him in Kansas City Athletics colors. The Athletics had taken him from the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft and used him strictly in relief: six appearances, five of them finished, six innings, six hits, five walks, three strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA. His lone major league save came April 22 against the Cleveland Indians. Kansas City returned him to the Phillies system at the May cutdown, so the card preserves a stay that barely outlasted April. He wore number 36 for the A's.
Edward Charles Keegan was a rail-thin right-handed pitcher, listed at 6-foot-3 and 165 pounds, born July 8, 1939, in Camden, New Jersey. He came out of Haddonfield Memorial High School and signed with his hometown Philadelphia Phillies in 1957. At the close of his third minor league season the Phillies called him up from Williamsport of the Eastern League, and he debuted August 24, 1959, at age 20, opposite Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, walking four and giving up four runs. Two more starts followed, against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals, and he lost all three decisions. Roberto Clemente tagged him for an inside-the-park home run in that Pittsburgh start, the first homer Keegan allowed in the majors. He spent all of 1960 in the minors, then worked out of the bullpen for the 1961 Kansas City Athletics and the 1962 Phillies. Across 13 games and 23 innings in three big league seasons he finished 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA, 31 hits and 23 walks allowed and 11 strikeouts. A resident of the Malaga section of Franklin Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, he stayed active in local youth sports. Keegan died October 19, 2014, in Franklinville, New Jersey, at 75.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 396 | 2 | 53 | 219 | 77 | 26 | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 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
Team card: #297 Kansas City Athletics Team
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- #39 Leo Posada
- #57 Marv Throneberry
- #94 Johnny Kucks
- #106 Whitey Herzog
- #119 A's Big Armor
- #143 Russ Snyder
- #177 Don Larsen
- #197 Dick Hall
- #199 Bob Boyd
- #212 Haywood Sullivan
- #224 Joe Gordon
- #267 Norm Siebern
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #248 card?
It is card #248 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ed Keegan of the Kansas City Athletics.
Is 1961 Topps #248 a rookie card?
Yes - #248 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Ed Keegan.
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.