1963 Topps #281 Tom Sturdivant
About Tom Sturdivant
Sports Illustrated's spring preview called Sturdivant and Harvey Haddix old and had them spending time in the Pirates bullpen with fork-baller ElRoy Face, and the season backed it up. He gave up six earned runs in 8 1/3 innings of relief and asked to be dealt: 'I get nervous when I don't pitch.' Detroit bought his contract on May 4 and used him 28 times, all in relief, for a 3.76 ERA, then sold him to Kansas City on July 23. Across the three clubs he went 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA. Card #281, a third-series card, still has him in Pirates flannel, the club he broke camp with and the first of the three he wore that summer.
Tom Sturdivant was a right-handed pitcher who reached the New York Yankees in 1955, seven years after they signed him as an infielder. He played third base in Class B ball from 1948 through 1950, batting .255 and then .246, and spent 1951 and most of 1952 in the Army, where he decided pitching was his only way up. A curveball that was hard to face got him the nickname Snake, and he backed it with a knuckleball and a moving fastball. In 1956 he went 16-8, led the American League in strikeout-to-walk ratio, and beat Brooklyn with a complete game in Game 4 of the World Series; in 1957 he went 16-6 and tied for the league lead in winning percentage at .727. Arm trouble and a heel a teammate spiked ruined his 1958, though he was ruled eligible for the World Series at the last minute and took a ring without pitching in it. Traded to Kansas City in May 1959, he spent the rest of his career with the Athletics, Red Sox, Senators, Pirates, Tigers and Mets, leaning harder on a knuckleball the Associated Press called his best pitch by 1963. He finished 59-51, went into freight and truck leasing in Oklahoma City, and was elected to the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 241 | 0 | 36 | 125 | 56 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 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: #151 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #18 Buc Blasters
- #34 Dick Schofield
- #55 Bill Virdon
- #87 Bob Veale
- #101 Joe Gibbon
- #122 Julio Gotay
- #159 Jim Pagliaroni
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
- #184 Vern Law
- #215 Bob Skinner
- #228 1963 Rookie Stars
- #239 Harvey Haddix
- #259 Johnny Logan
- #299 1963 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #281 card?
It is card #281 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Sturdivant of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.