1965 Topps #297 Dave DeBusschere
About Dave DeBusschere
1965 Topps #297 is a fourth-series card, and it still lists DeBusschere with the Chicago White Sox even though he had not thrown a big-league pitch since September 1963. He spent 1964 at Triple-A Indianapolis, going 15-8 with a 3.93 ERA, then returned there in 1965 for a 15-12 mark and a sharper 3.65. Basketball pulled harder all the while: Pistons owner Fred Zollner made him player-coach in November 1964 at age 24, the youngest head coach the NBA had ever had, and in September 1965 DeBusschere turned down a late-season call-up from Chicago and left the game for good.
David Albert DeBusschere (born October 16, 1940, in Detroit) starred in both baseball and basketball at Austin Catholic Preparatory School and the University of Detroit, pitching the Titans to three NCAA baseball tournament berths while averaging 24 points a game on the hardwood. The Chicago White Sox signed him in 1962 for a $75,000 bonus; that same year the Detroit Pistons claimed him with a territorial draft pick, and the two-sport balancing act that defined his early twenties was under way. DeBusschere debuted for Chicago on April 22, 1962, pitched again in 1963, and closed his big-league book with a 3-4 record and a 2.90 ERA over 36 games, his last outing coming September 2, 1963. He kept pitching in the White Sox farm system for two more years before choosing basketball for good. He went on to eight NBA All-Star selections with the Pistons and New York Knicks, anchored both New York championship teams in 1970 and 1973, and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 - still the only former major league ballplayer enshrined there.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 318 | 2 | 22 | 156 | 79 | 28 | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
Team card: #234 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #7 American League 1964 ERA Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #41 White Sox 1965 Rookie Stars
- #58 Fred Talbot
- #70 Bill Skowron
- #81 Don Buford
- #89 Mike Hershberger
- #125 Juan Pizarro
- #146 Ron Hansen
- #183 Dave Nicholson
- #198 Smoky Burgess
- #208 Tommy John
- #215 Pete Ward
- #253 Danny Cater
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #297 card?
It is card #297 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave DeBusschere of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, 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 2026-10-11.