1963 Topps #108 Hoyt Wilhelm
Card-back error: the birth date reads July 26, 1923; Wilhelm was born July 26, 1922.
Uncorrected error: The back says born 7/26/1923; his birth date is 7/26/1922.
About Hoyt Wilhelm
Card #108 is a first-series number in the 1963 set. It still lists Wilhelm with Baltimore even though the Orioles had shipped him to the White Sox on January 14, 1963, with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith -- so it is the last Topps card to show him as an Oriole. The season behind it was his fourth All-Star year: 7-10 with a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves across 52 games and 93 innings for Baltimore, at 40. The back repeats the 1923 birth date that followed him through his whole career; the real date was July 26, 1922.
Hoyt Wilhelm rode a knuckleball he taught himself as a North Carolina teenager to one of baseball's strangest careers. Born in Huntersville on July 26, 1922 -- a year earlier than the date his cards carried -- he was one of eleven children of tenant farmers. He served in the Army, was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart, then pitched the rest of his life with a fragment lodged in his back; his rise to staff sergeant left him the nickname "Old Sarge." He did not reach the majors until age 29, debuting for the New York Giants in April 1952, and homered in his first at-bat, the only home run he ever hit. Working entirely in relief, he won the National League ERA title as a rookie at 2.43, going 15-3, then took a second crown as a Baltimore starter in 1959 at 2.19 and no-hit the Yankees 1-0 on September 20, 1958. He pitched for nine franchises, tying Satchel Paige and Goose Gossage for the most by a Hall of Fame pitcher, and was the first to reach 200 saves and 1,000 games. Twenty-one seasons left him 143-122 with a 2.52 ERA, 227 saves and a record 124 relief wins; in 1985 he became the first reliever elected to Cooperstown.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 845 | 0 | 30 | 308 | 243 | 137 | 66 | 61 | 0 |
| SGC | 172 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 58 | 39 | 31 | 23 | 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: #377 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #12 Steve Barber
- #19 Pete Burnside
- #41 Charlie Lau
- #65 Jackie Brandt
- #88 Ron Hansen
- #112 Dick Brown
- #125 Robin Roberts
- #158 1963 Rookie Stars
- #205 Luis Aparicio
- #208 1963 Rookie Stars
- #209 Hobie Landrith
- #213 Billy Hitchcock
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #108 card?
It is card #108 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hoyt Wilhelm of the Baltimore Orioles.
Does 1963 Topps #108 have an error?
The back says born 7/26/1923; his birth date is 7/26/1922. It was never corrected, so there is no variation to chase - every copy of #108 reads the same way.
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.