1963 Topps #353 Billy Williams
About Billy Williams
Card #353, a fourth-series number, reports a 1962 in which Williams raised his average to .298 with 22 home runs and 91 RBIs and earned the first of his six All-Star selections. He also played 159 games, missing only three all year. Teammates read that as method, not luck. "Billy Williams' life is a system," Ernie Banks said. "Nothing distracts him from his system."
Billy Williams played left field for the Chicago Cubs from 1959 through 1974, joining Ernie Banks and Ron Santo in an everyday core that pulled a long-buried franchise back toward contention in the late 1960s. Born in Whistler, Alabama, he liked to say his signing bonus was a bus ticket and a cigar for his father. Bigotry in the Double-A Texas League drove him home in 1959 until Cubs scout Buck O'Neil came to Whistler and coaxed him back. He hit .278 with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs in 1961 and became the first Cub named National League Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star known as "Sweet-Swinging Billy from Whistler" for a short, effortless stroke, he won the 1972 batting title at .333 and finished MVP runner-up twice, in 1970 and 1972, both times behind Cincinnati's Johnny Bench. He played 1,117 straight games from September 1963 to September 1970, a National League record that stood until 1983. Williams closed an 18-year career, the last two as Oakland's designated hitter, with a .290 average, 2,711 hits, 426 home runs and 1,475 RBIs -- a home run total that then ranked eighth in major league history among left-handed hitters. He entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and later coached 19 seasons in the majors.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 805 | 0 | 8 | 163 | 239 | 189 | 93 | 110 | 3 |
| SGC | 202 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 41 | 46 | 54 | 46 | 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
Team card: #222 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #3 1962 National League Home Run Leaders
- #15 Ken Hubbs
- #31 Cal Koonce
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #58 Bob Will
- #81 Jimmie Schaffer
- #95 Larry Jackson
- #113 Don Landrum
- #175 Bob Buhl
- #193 Andre Rodgers
- #212 Glen Hobbie
- #242 Power Plus
- #252 Ron Santo
- #272 Danny Murphy
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #353 card?
It is card #353 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs.
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.