1963 Topps #486 Ray Sadecki
The card's printed text calls Sadecki a right-handed pitcher; he actually threw left-handed.
Uncorrected error: The card text calls him a right-hander; Sadecki was a lefty.
About Ray Sadecki
A strong finish at Atlanta and a good spring won Sadecki the fifth starter's job, and he opened 1963 at 0-4 with a 6.80 ERA before Johnny Keane's patience paid off. He won his next four starts and finished an even 10-10 with a 4.10 ERA over 193 1/3 innings, joining Ernie Broglio, Bob Gibson and Curt Simmons in double-digit wins for a Cardinals club that took second place with 93 victories. One quirk worth knowing: the card's printed text calls him a right-handed pitcher, and Sadecki threw left-handed.
Ray Sadecki, a left-handed pitcher born December 26, 1940, in Kansas City, Kansas, signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a bonus baby out of Bishop Ward High School in 1958, still only seventeen, and reached the majors at nineteen in 1960. Over an 18-year career he pitched for the Cardinals, the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets, with later stops for the Braves, Royals and Brewers, going 135-131 with a 3.78 ERA, 20 shutouts and 1,614 strikeouts in 563 games, 328 of them starts. Known for his palmball, he was the left-handed complement to Bob Gibson in St. Louis; his signature season came in 1964, when he won 20 games and beat Whitey Ford in Game One of the World Series as the Cardinals took the pennant and the title. He was traded to San Francisco in May 1966 in the deal that sent Orlando Cepeda to St. Louis, and posted his best full-season ERA, 2.78, for the Giants in 1967. Sadecki was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He died November 17, 2014, in Mesa, Arizona.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 319 | 4 | 59 | 137 | 83 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 19 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 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: #524 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #1 1962 National League Batting Leaders
- #5 1962 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #9 1962 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #22 Curt Simmons
- #49 Dal Maxvill
- #54 1963 Rookie Stars
- #83 Charley James
- #97 Bob Duliba
- #130 Dick Groat
- #138 Pride of the N.L.
- #166 Johnny Keane
- #172 Gene Oliver
- #190 Minnie Minoso
- #206 Ray Washburn
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #486 card?
It is card #486 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Sadecki of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Does 1963 Topps #486 have an error?
The card text calls him a right-hander; Sadecki was a lefty. It was never corrected, so there is no variation to chase - every copy of #486 reads the same way.
Why is #486 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.