1966 Topps #83 Albie Pearson
About Albie Pearson
The front reads California Angels: the club took that name on September 2, 1965, in recognition of its move to the new Anaheim Stadium for 1966. Behind the card is 1965, when manager Bill Rigney platooned Pearson in right field with the right-handed Lou Clinton after Clinton hit .200 in April. He batted .278 over 122 games with 100 hits, 41 runs, 21 RBI and 12 steals in 13 tries. Card #83 is a first-series card.
Albert Gregory Pearson, born September 12, 1934 in Alhambra, California, was the shortest man in the major leagues, a left-handed hitter and thrower listed at 5 feet 5 inches and 140 pounds. The Boston Red Sox signed him as a pitcher in 1953, and he spent five years in their farm system without reaching the majors; the January 1958 trade that sent him to Washington for Pete Runnels finally got him a job. He hit .275 as the Senators' center fielder and won American League Rookie of the Year. A .188 start in 1959 cost him that job, Washington traded him to Baltimore for Lenny Green, and the Orioles had him back in the minors by 1960. Hearing that Los Angeles had been granted an expansion club, he wrote general manager Fred Haney asking to be taken, and Haney spent the last of the Angels' 30 draft picks on him. Six seasons with the Angels followed, ended by two ruptured discs from a spring training slide in 1966. He retired a .270 hitter with 831 hits, 485 runs and a .369 on-base percentage in 988 games, was ordained a minister in 1972, and in 1997 he and his wife Helen sold their house to found Father's Heart Ranch for abused and neglected boys. He died February 21, 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 201 | 1 | 29 | 104 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 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. Where SGC registers no separate row for a variation state, its slabs of that card are listed under the base state.
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Related cards
Team card: #131 California Angels
More California Angels cards:
- #5 Jim Fregosi
- #23 Jack Sanford
- #42 Aubrey Gatewood
- #62 Merritt Ranew
- #102 Ed Kirkpatrick
- #152 Frank Malzone
- #155 Marcelino Lopez
- #173 Al Spangler
- #192 Vic Power
- #213 Fred Newman
- #249 Bill Rigney
- #263 Tom Egan
- #280 Bobby Knoop
- #299 Lou Burdette
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #83 card?
It is card #83 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Albie Pearson of the California Angels.
How many cards are in the 1966 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 613 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no number used twice, and 14 cards carry catalogued print variations - five checklists, the trade and sold statement backs, the three-state #43 Don Landrum, three team-card dot pairs and the #161 Jerry Lumpe white streak - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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.