1962 Topps #15 Dick Donovan
The back of this card calls Donovan a southpaw. He threw right-handed.
Uncorrected error: The back calls him a "southpaw" - Donovan threw right-handed
About Dick Donovan
Two 1962 Topps cards catch Donovan changing uniforms. Washington had shipped him, Gene Green and Jim Mahoney to Cleveland for Jimmy Piersall in October 1961, so card #15, a first-series issue, is his first as an Indian - and the back gets him wrong, calling the right-hander a southpaw. Card #55, also from the first series, is the American League earned run average leaders card, replaying the race he had just won: his 2.40 ahead of Bill Stafford (2.68), Don Mossi (2.96) and Milt Pappas (3.04). He justified the trade at once, opening the season with a five-hit, 4-0 shutout of the Red Sox at Fenway Park in front of family and friends, the first of five shutouts he threw that year.
Richard Edward Donovan was born December 7, 1927, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was signed by the Boston Braves out of North Quincy High School, then served three years in the U.S. Navy before turning pro in 1947. He never won a game for the Braves or the Tigers. The turn came in the minors at Atlanta, where Whitlow Wyatt taught him a slider; going there, Donovan said, was the best thing that ever happened to him. The right-hander pitched in the majors from 1950 to 1965 for the Braves, Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians, and was an All-Star in 1955, 1961 and 1962 - five selections, because each of those last two seasons staged two All-Star Games. He saved Game Five of the 1959 World Series for Chicago, led the American League with a 2.40 ERA for the 1961 expansion Senators, and won 20 games for Cleveland in 1962. He finished 122-99 with a 3.67 ERA and, unusually for a pitcher, 15 home runs. Later a stockbroker and real-estate appraiser, he died of cancer on January 6, 1997, in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 222 | 0 | 5 | 93 | 88 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Related cards
More Dick Donovan in this set: #55 League Leaders
Team card: #537 Cleveland Indians Team
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #37 Tribe Hill Trio
- #49 Hal Jones
- #78 Gene Green
- #97 Tito Francona
- #123 Mike de la Hoz
- #145 Barry Latman
- #182 Bob Nieman
- #215 Woody Held
- #224 Don Rudolph
- #242 Mel McGaha
- #253 Harry Chiti
- #273 Gary Bell
- #292 Jerry Kindall
- #307 Jim Grant
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #15 card?
It is card #15 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dick Donovan of the Cleveland Indians.
Does 1962 Topps #15 have an error?
The back calls him a "southpaw" - Donovan threw right-handed. It was never corrected, so there is no variation to chase - every copy of #15 reads the same way.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-03.