1963 Topps #492 Dave Wickersham
About Dave Wickersham
Card #492 in the 1963 set is a semi-high number out of the sixth print series, a notch tougher to find than the early runs, and it shows Wickersham with the Kansas City Athletics. It reports his 1962 season. Kansas City finally auditioned him as a starter, and pitching coach Ed Lopat helped him add a screwball; he went 6-2 across nine starts before a bad back and a cracked rib cost him nearly two months and pushed him back to relief. He finished 11-4 with a 4.17 earned run average in 30 games, and his .733 winning percentage led American League pitchers.
David Clifford Wickersham was a right-handed pitcher from Erie, Pennsylvania, who spent ten seasons in the major leagues from 1960 to 1969. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him as an amateur free agent before the 1955 season, and he enrolled at Ohio University in his off-seasons while working through six minor league campaigns. Kansas City claimed him in the 1959 minor league draft, and he reached the Athletics in September 1960. He worked out of the bullpen before moving into the rotation, and led American League pitchers in winning percentage in 1962. Traded to Detroit in November 1963, he had his best year in 1964, going 19-12 with a 3.44 earned run average for the Tigers and drawing consideration in the American League Most Valuable Player vote. He later pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and, in 1969, the Kansas City Royals, making him one of only four players to appear for both Kansas City major league franchises. He finished 68-57 with a 3.66 earned run average and 638 strikeouts over 283 games. A leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and died in 2022 at age 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 273 | 1 | 19 | 146 | 81 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 19 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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 #492 card?
It is card #492 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave Wickersham of the Kansas City Athletics.
Why is #492 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.