1961 Topps #488 Joe McClain
About Joe McClain
Card 488 in the 1961 Topps set is Joe McClain's rookie card, from the sixth series, and it reached collectors midway through the only full season he would get. It pictures him with the expansion Washington Senators, whose first winning pitcher he already was. A week after that April 14 debut he started and won the first home game in Minnesota Twins history at Metropolitan Stadium, squeezing home a ninth-inning insurance run himself; he still had not walked a batter all season. He finished 8-18 for a 61-100 ballclub, leading the staff with 29 starts and adding 212 innings, seven complete games, two shutouts and a 3.86 ERA.
Joseph Fred McClain, born May 5, 1933, in Johnson City, Tennessee, was a 6-foot right-hander who pitched at the University of Tennessee and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953. Military service cost him the 1954 and 1955 seasons, and he then worked through the farm systems of the Cardinals, the New York Yankees and the original Washington Senators, the club that became the Minnesota Twins. The expansion Senators took him in the minor league phase of the 1960 expansion draft, off the Charleston roster where he had just thrown 223 innings. He was 27 when he finally reached the majors, and he made it count: his debut on April 14, 1961, a complete game against the Cleveland Indians at Griffith Stadium, gave the expansion franchise the first win in its history. It bought him one full year in a big league rotation and no more. His two major league seasons, both in Washington, produced an 8-22 record and a 4.42 earned run average, and he threw his last professional innings for Triple-A Richmond in 1963.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · SABR Games Project · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Stats Crew
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 420 | 2 | 38 | 214 | 130 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 24 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 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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- #146 Marty Keough
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- #174 Ray Semproch
- #187 Billy Klaus
- #206 Gene Green
- #229 Rudy Hernandez
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- #259 John Schaive
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #488 card?
It is card #488 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe McClain of the Washington Senators.
Is 1961 Topps #488 a rookie card?
Yes - #488 is the 1961 Topps rookie card of Joe McClain.
Why is #488 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
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.