1963 Topps #443 Jim Piersall
About Jim Piersall
Card #443, a series-5 issue, catches Piersall in his one full season with the Washington Senators: a .244 average with 4 home runs and 31 RBI in 135 games in 1962, some 78 points below his Cleveland form of a year earlier. He turned 33 that November, and 1962 proved to be the last season in which he would appear in more than 90 games.
James Anthony Piersall, born November 14, 1929 in Waterbury, Connecticut, played 17 major-league seasons (1950, 1952-1967) as an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Mets and Los Angeles/California Angels. Prized for his center-field glove, he made two All-Star teams (1954, 1956), won Gold Gloves in 1958 and 1961, and finished at .272 with 104 home runs and 591 RBI in 1,734 games. In 1952, the rookie season that collapsed into a publicized breakdown, he was calling himself the 'Waterbury Wizard' after his hometown; that summer ended at Westborough State Hospital with electroshock treatment. His recovery became the 1955 memoir Fear Strikes Out, written with Al Hirshberg, and the 1957 film starring Anthony Perkins. The showmanship never stopped: he batted in a Beatles wig and played air guitar on his bat. After retiring in 1967 he broadcast for decades, most famously beside Harry Caray on Chicago White Sox games beginning in 1977. The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame inducted him in September 2010. He died June 3, 2017 in Wheaton, Illinois.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 275 | 1 | 13 | 143 | 71 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 24 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 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: #131 Washington Senators
More Washington Senators cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #47 Don Lock
- #69 Bud Zipfel
- #94 Bob Schmidt
- #121 Jim Hannan
- #149 Marv Breeding
- #158 1963 Rookie Stars
- #171 Steve Hamilton
- #176 Jim King
- #219 Chuck Cottier
- #243 Don Leppert
- #263 Dave Stenhouse
- #276 Barry Shetrone
- #291 Don Rudolph
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #443 card?
It is card #443 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Piersall of the Washington Senators.
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.