1965 Topps #221 John Tsitouris
About John Tsitouris
Card #221, another third-series Cincinnati card, catches him at the hinge. On April 30 in New York the umpire ruled a Ron Swoboda drive off the center-field backdrop still in play, turning an apparent first-inning grand slam into a one-run single, and Tsitouris settled in for a five-hit complete-game win. The rest swung the other way: his ERA climbed past four, August brought two starts in which he never recorded an out, and he was shuttled between rotation and bullpen until he demanded a trade. The line read 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA in 31 games, 20 of them starts.
John Philip Tsitouris was a right-handed pitcher born May 4, 1936 in Monroe, North Carolina, the son of a Greek immigrant who owned restaurants in town. In 1954 he became the first player signed by new Detroit scout Rick Ferrell, and he reached the majors in June 1957, picking up the win in relief against Baltimore in his debut. A temper outburst at Triple-A Charleston that September soured the Tigers on him, and he was traded to Kansas City in November. Three uneven seasons with the Athletics followed, including a jaw broken by a line drive in batting practice in May 1960. Cincinnati acquired him and John Briggs in a January 1961 deal for Joe Nuxhall. Named San Diego's most valuable pitcher after a 13-8 Pacific Coast League season in 1962, he earned a September call-up to the Reds, and in 1963 pitching coach Jim Turner converted him from a thrower into a pitcher, producing his best mark, 12-8 with a 3.16 ERA. He stayed on the Cincinnati staff through 1965, was optioned out in 1966, and pitched his last big-league game in April 1968. He finished 34-38 with a 4.13 ERA over parts of eleven seasons, then followed his father-in-law into automobile sales. He died in Monroe in 2015.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 217 | 1 | 32 | 119 | 40 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #221 card?
It is card #221 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Tsitouris of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.