1961 Topps #293 Tom Sturdivant
About Tom Sturdivant
Washington took Sturdivant in the December 1960 expansion draft, and on May 13 he threw the first shutout in the new Senators' history, 4-0 over Boston, a Vic Wertz double the only hit and the only baserunner against him. It was his last win in that uniform. Seven runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Red Sox on June 16 dropped him to the bullpen at 2-6, and on June 29 Washington traded him to Pittsburgh for Tom Cheney. The Pirates parked him at Class AAA Columbus, where he went 5-1 and got the knuckleball back over the plate, then bought his contract on July 29. He lost his first start back, then threw six straight complete games and won five. Card #293, from the fourth series, still has him in a Senators cap.
Tom Sturdivant was a right-handed pitcher who reached the New York Yankees in 1955, seven years after they signed him as an infielder. He played third base in Class B ball from 1948 through 1950, batting .255 and then .246, and spent 1951 and most of 1952 in the Army, where he decided pitching was his only way up. A curveball that was hard to face got him the nickname Snake, and he backed it with a knuckleball and a moving fastball. In 1956 he went 16-8, led the American League in strikeout-to-walk ratio, and beat Brooklyn with a complete game in Game 4 of the World Series; in 1957 he went 16-6 and tied for the league lead in winning percentage at .727. Arm trouble and a heel a teammate spiked ruined his 1958, though he was ruled eligible for the World Series at the last minute and took a ring without pitching in it. Traded to Kansas City in May 1959, he spent the rest of his career with the Athletics, Red Sox, Senators, Pirates, Tigers and Mets, leaning harder on a knuckleball the Associated Press called his best pitch by 1963. He finished 59-51, went into freight and truck leasing in Oklahoma City, and was elected to the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 237 | 0 | 9 | 107 | 77 | 28 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #293 card?
It is card #293 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Sturdivant of the Washington Senators.
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.