1961 Topps #245 Joe Adcock
About Joe Adcock
Topps put Adcock at #245 in the third series, following a 1960 season in which he returned to first base full time under new manager Chuck Dressen and never played the outfield again. He led Milwaukee with a .298 average and added 25 home runs and 91 RBIs, though Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews both out-homered him on an 88-66 second-place club. The year brought his only All-Star selection; he started both games that summer and went 3-for-5. On April 14 he had become the first right-handed hitter to clear the 64-foot scoreboard at Connie Mack Stadium, off Curt Simmons.
Joseph Wilbur Adcock was born October 30, 1927, in Coushatta, Louisiana, and led the Southeastern Conference in scoring for the LSU basketball team before a walk-on tryout there turned him into a slugging first baseman. Signed by Cincinnati in 1947, he debuted with the Reds in 1950 but was blocked at first base by Ted Kluszewski and was traded to the Braves in February 1953, weeks before the franchise moved from Boston to Milwaukee. Nicknamed "Billy Joe" after a Vanderbilt basketball player and popularized by Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, Adcock became one of the era's most feared long-ball hitters, highlighted by a four-home-run, 18-total-base game against Brooklyn at Ebbets Field on July 31, 1954. He anchored Milwaukee's lineup alongside Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, helped the Braves win the 1957 World Series, and made his only All-Star team in 1960. Injuries and platooning cost him at-bats, yet he finished with 336 home runs, 1,122 RBIs and a .277 average over 17 seasons with the Reds, Braves, Indians and Angels, retiring with the third-highest career fielding percentage (.994) among first basemen. A 1975 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee and a 2022 Braves Hall of Fame selection, he retired to his Coushatta ranch and died there on May 3, 1999.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 335 | 0 | 18 | 148 | 112 | 32 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 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: #463b Milwaukee Braves Team
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #29 Don Nottebart
- #61 Ron Piche
- #73 Al Spangler
- #84 Lee Maye
- #89 Billy Martin
- #105 Carl Willey
- #120 Ed Mathews
- #137 Chuck Dressen
- #145 Bob Buhl
- #164 Felix Mantilla
- #183 Andre Rodgers
- #200 Warren Spahn
- #217 Mel Roach
- #261 Charlie Lau
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #245 card?
It is card #245 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves.
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.