1965 Topps #231 Jerry Adair
About Jerry Adair
Card #231, a third-series issue, covers the finest defensive season Adair ever had. In 1964 he led American League second basemen with a .994 fielding percentage and made only five errors all year, an American League low for the position that Bobby Grich and Roberto Alomar would later match, and on July 22 he began the errorless run that carried into the next season. He played 155 games in all, batting .248 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. A bad throw split his mouth in the first game of a Detroit doubleheader that summer; 11 stitches later he was back in uniform for the second game.
Kenneth Jerry Adair, born December 17, 1936, in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, was a sure-handed infielder across 13 major league seasons, 1958-1970, with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, before a 1971 season in Japan with the Hankyu Braves. A two-sport star at Oklahoma State under basketball coach Hank Iba, he signed with Baltimore for a $40,000 bonus and debuted the same day, September 2, 1958. Called the Iceman in high school for his composure and Casper the Friendly Ghost in the majors, he made his name with the glove: 458 consecutive errorless chances at second base over 89 games in 1964 and 1965, a major league record until Manny Trillo passed it in 1982, and a career .985 fielding mark that bettered Hall of Famers Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan and Bill Mazeroski. He coached Oakland through all three of its championship seasons, 1972-1974, then the California Angels. He died of liver cancer on May 31, 1987, in Tulsa at 50.
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 | 241 | 3 | 36 | 123 | 46 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #572 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #15 Robin Roberts
- #33 Jackie Brandt
- #49 Orioles 1965 Rookie Stars
- #67 Harvey Haddix
- #94 Charlie Lau
- #113 Steve Barber
- #150 Brooks Robinson
- #169 Dave Vineyard
- #188 Sam Bowens
- #204 Russ Snyder
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #231 card?
It is card #231 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jerry Adair of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.