1963 Topps #301 Bill Fischer
About Bill Fischer
A plain fourth-series card, #301 shows Fischer in Kansas City. The 1962 line on its back reads 4-12, which undersells it: his walk-free run began after a free pass to Bubba Phillips on August 3 and ended with one to Bubba Morton on September 30. Charlie Finley promised $1,000 plus $100 an inning, paid $2,600, then called it Fischer's raise. He opened 1963 in the A's late-inning role, 7-1 with a 1.53 ERA through May.
William Charles Fischer, a right-handed pitcher born in Wausau, Wisconsin on October 11, 1930, worked nine major league seasons from 1956 through 1964 for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Minnesota Twins. He signed with the White Sox out of a tryout camp two weeks after his 1948 high school graduation, then spent two years as a Marine Corps drill sergeant during the Korean War. Used as a swingman, he started 78 of his 281 games and finished 45-58 with a 4.34 ERA, 16 complete games, 13 saves and 313 strikeouts in 831 and one-third innings, with only three errors in 229 fielding chances. In 1962 at Kansas City he walked eight men all season and ran off 84 and one-third straight innings without a walk, erasing Christy Mathewson's 68 and setting a major league record that still stands. He pitched four more years in Triple-A after his last big league game, then coached for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays and stayed in uniform until his death in 2018 at 88.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 183 | 1 | 9 | 96 | 67 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #397 Kansas City Athletics
More Kansas City Athletics cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #23 Ed Lopat
- #51 George Alusik
- #67 Ed Charles
- #82 Ed Rakow
- #104 Lew Krausse
- #124 Dick Howser
- #157 Diego Segui
- #195 Manny Jimenez
- #214 Orlando Pena
- #236 Bill Bryan
- #253 1963 Rookie Stars
- #256 Jerry Lumpe
- #282 Bob Del Greco
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #301 card?
It is card #301 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Fischer of the Kansas City Athletics.
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.