1963 Topps #61 Ernie Bowman
About Ernie Bowman
It reached packs as Bowman was putting together the busiest season of his short career: 81 games, 26 of them starts at shortstop and two more at second base, with 23 hits in 125 at-bats for a .184 average. The bulk of that work came when Jose Pagan was hurt in August and Bowman drew thirteen straight starting assignments. He walked off the field on September 29 not knowing it was his last major league game, 27 days shy of qualifying for the players' pension, and that winter he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves to complete an earlier multi-player swap.
Ernest Ferrell Bowman was born July 28, 1935, in Johnson City, Tennessee, the second son of a father who worked in flour mills and hosiery factories and who chose the middle name to honor the ballplaying Ferrell brothers. Ernie went by Ferrell himself into his early twenties. A star at Science Hill High School in basketball, track and baseball, he took a basketball scholarship at East Tennessee State, and when the coach there kept him off the diamond he played semipro ball across the line in Abingdon, Virginia, where the scouts found him. He signed with the New York Giants in 1956. A right-handed infielder with tremendous range and a strong throwing arm, Bowman called defense his specialty, and the glove is what carried him: 165 games for the San Francisco Giants between 1961 and 1963, a .190 average, one home run and ten runs batted in. Six more minor league seasons followed before he retired in 1969. Back home he refereed basketball, worked as an assistant golf pro and spent decades in the Johnson City parks department. He entered the Northeast Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and died August 4, 2019.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 270 | 0 | 2 | 103 | 111 | 37 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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: #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
- #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
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #61 card?
It is card #61 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ernie Bowman 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.