1963 Topps #297 Jim Golden
About Jim Golden
1963 Topps #297, series 4, is a Houston Colt .45's card. It was his last Topps card, and the season it covers was over almost before it began. A right shoulder injury limited him to three early-season outings, the last a start against St. Louis on April 23: two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, after which the Houston bullpen gave up 13 more in a 15-0 loss. He never pitched in the majors again. He tried to work through the shoulder in the minors, went to the White Sox that winter in the trade that brought Nellie Fox to Houston, pitched 1964 for Indianapolis and then retired; an MRI years later showed a torn rotator cuff.
James Edward Golden, born March 20, 1936, in Eldon, Missouri, and raised from the early 1940s in Valencia, Kansas, was a right-handed pitcher who batted left-handed. He won 11 varsity letters in baseball, football and basketball at Silver Lake High School, helped the baseball team to Kansas state titles in 1953 and 1954, and struck out a state-record 185 batters in that second season. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1954 for a $7,000 bonus and spent five seasons in their farm system without reaching the majors. In December 1958 the Phillies packaged him with two other players to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Sparky Anderson, then a second-base prospect and later a Hall of Fame manager. At Triple-A St. Paul in 1960 he won 20 games and led the American Association in both wins and earned run average at 2.32, earning a September 30 debut that he won. He relieved for the 1961 Dodgers, was taken by the expansion Houston Colt .45s, and was finished in the majors by a right shoulder injury in 1963, going 9-13 with a 4.54 ERA over 69 games. The Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame in Kansas inducted him in 2014.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 194 | 0 | 10 | 95 | 63 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #312 Houston Colt .45's
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #24 Bob Bruce
- #45 Bob Aspromonte
- #77 Al Spangler
- #99 Jim Umbricht
- #119 Bob Lillis
- #141 Manny Mota
- #153 Hal Smith
- #158 1963 Rookie Stars
- #189 Dave Giusti
- #204 Don Nottebart
- #208 1963 Rookie Stars
- #230 Pete Runnels
- #262 Ellis Burton
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #297 card?
It is card #297 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Golden of the Houston Colt .45's.
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.