1963 Topps #235 Billy O'Dell
About Billy O'Dell
Three 1963 cards carry O'Dell, and every one of them reports 1962. He rides the National League pitching leaders card #7 with Don Drysdale, Jack Sanford, Bob Purkey, Joe Jay and Art Mahaffey, and the strikeout leaders card #9 with Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Dick Farrell; his own card is #235, a series-3 issue. Behind those leader lines sat 39 starts, 280 2/3 innings and team highs of 20 complete games and 195 strikeouts, then an October in which he lost Game One to Whitey Ford, held the Yankees through three relief innings in Game Four, and pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in Game Seven.
William Oliver O'Dell was a left-handed pitcher out of Clemson who signed with Baltimore in June 1954 as their first bonus baby, reaching the majors without a day in the minors. Army service cost him 1955 and most of 1956; back in the rotation from 1957, he made the American League All-Star team in 1958 and 1959. In the 1958 game he retired all nine National League batters he faced, among them Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, closing out a 4-3 win and taking the game's most valuable player honor. Traded to San Francisco in November 1959, he peaked at 19-14 in 1962, then finished with the Braves and Pirates at 105-100 with a 3.29 ERA over thirteen seasons. Ballplayers called him "Digger," after the friendly undertaker of radio and television's The Life of Riley. He farmed near Newberry, South Carolina, worked in textile public relations, coached American Legion ball, and entered the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976. He died there in 2018 at 85.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 305 | 1 | 46 | 161 | 71 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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
More Billy O'Dell in this set: #7 League Leaders, #9 League Leaders
Team card: #417 San Francisco Giants
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #3 1962 National League Home Run Leaders
- #7 1962 National League Pitching Leaders
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #30 Harvey Kuenn
- #50 Bill Pierce
- #61 Ernie Bowman
- #85 Tom Haller
- #106 Bob Bolin
- #128 Matty Alou
- #138 Pride of the N.L.
- #143 World Series Game #2 - Sanford Flashes Shutout Magic
- #145 World Series Game #4 - Hiller Blasts Grand Slammer
- #147 World Series Game #6 - Pierce Stars in 3-Hit Victory
- #163 Don Larsen
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #235 card?
It is card #235 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy O'Dell of the San Francisco Giants.
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.