1963 Topps #496 1963 Rookie Stars
On this card: Steve Dalkowski, Fred Newman, Carl Bouldin, Jack Smith
Steve Dalkowski never pitched in a major league game.
About this card
The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
The story on this card
Dalkowski entered spring training 1963 coming off his best minor league season and was fitted for an Orioles uniform, with the club expecting to carry him north. On March 23, pitching in relief against the Yankees, he felt something pop in his elbow; the injury was diagnosed as a severe muscle strain and his arm never fully recovered, limiting him to just 41 innings that year, 12 of them at Triple-A Rochester, the highest level he ever reached. This 1963 Topps card is a semi-high number from the set's sixth print series, part of a multi-player Rookie Stars subset shared with Fred Newman, Carl Bouldin, and Jack Smith, and is recognized as Dalkowski's rookie card. A minor league fastball legend clocked only by hearsay, so hard-throwing that Ted Williams never wanted to face him again, yet so wild he walked almost as many batters as he struck out.
Newman's first Topps card lands right after his September 1962 debut, earned by a 15-1, 1.85 season at Class C San Jose that carried him to Triple-A and then to the Angels, where he worked four late games including his first big league start. It is a four-pitcher Rookie Stars card: Newman with Baltimore's Steve Dalkowski, Washington's Carl Bouldin and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Jack Smith. Dalkowski, the famous fireballer, never reached the majors at all. This is a recognized rookie card for Newman, and a semi-high number from the sixth series. Fred Newman, a Boston-born right-hander, gave the Angels six big league seasons from 1962 to 1967 and two fine ones in the middle, winning 27 games in 1964 and 1965 before arm trouble finished him at 25.
Bouldin spent most of 1963 with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, but he pitched his way back to Washington and went 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA over 23 1/3 innings for the Senators. The other three names are all pitchers: Fred Newman of the Los Angeles Angels, Jack Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Baltimore's Steve Dalkowski, the fabled fireballer whose wildness kept him from ever reaching the major leagues. A two-sport star at Cincinnati, Carl Bouldin helped the Bearcats win the 1961 NCAA basketball title and reached the majors that same September, pitching parts of four seasons for the Washington Senators as a switch-hitting right-hander.
Smith opened 1963 on the Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching staff, appearing in relief before a rough outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 3 sent him back to Triple-A for the rest of the season. His card in Topps' 1963 series 6, a semi-high number, is a shared Rookie Stars issue, card #496, grouping him with Steve Dalkowski, Fred Newman and Carl Bouldin. It is Smith's recognized rookie card. Jack Smith was a hard-throwing right-hander who reached the majors with the Dodgers in September 1962 after an MVP season at Triple-A Omaha, then closed his career with the 1964 Milwaukee Braves.
Sources: Wikipedia (Steve Dalkowski) · Wikipedia (Fred Newman) · Wikipedia (Carl Bouldin) · Wikipedia (Jack Smith (pitcher))
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 467 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 131 | 108 | 63 | 83 | 3 |
| SGC | 90 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 27 | 16 | 30 | 3 |
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.
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Related cards
Team cards: #377 Baltimore Orioles, #39 Los Angeles Angels, #337 Los Angeles Dodgers, #131 Washington Senators
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #12 Steve Barber
- #19 Pete Burnside
- #41 Charlie Lau
- #65 Jackie Brandt
More Los Angeles Angels cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #17 Ryne Duren
- #33 Bo Belinsky
- #57 Billy Moran
- #98 George Thomas
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #1 1962 National League Batting Leaders
- #5 1962 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #7 1962 National League Pitching Leaders
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #11 Lee Walls
- #53 Joe Moeller
More Washington Senators cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #47 Don Lock
- #69 Bud Zipfel
- #94 Bob Schmidt
- #121 Jim Hannan
- #149 Marv Breeding
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #496 card?
It is card #496 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Dalkowski, Fred Newman, Carl Bouldin and Jack Smith. The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
Is 1963 Topps #496 a rookie card?
Yes - #496 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Steve Dalkowski, Fred Newman, Carl Bouldin and Jack Smith.
Why is #496 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: 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.