1966 Topps #297 Jim Owens
About Jim Owens
Card #297, a fourth-series issue that Topps also printed for the Venezuelan market on darker, thinner stock, reports Owens's 1965 season, the best relief year he had: 6-5 with a 3.28 ERA, a team-leading 50 appearances and eight saves, 35 of those outings scoreless. One came on April 14 at Shea Stadium, where he worked the eleventh to hold a 7-6 lead and became the first pitcher in an Astros uniform to earn a save.
James Philip Owens, nicknamed "Bear" for his stocky build and round face, was a right-handed pitcher who spent parts of twelve seasons between 1955 and 1967 with the Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Houston Colt .45s/Astros. Born in Gifford, Pennsylvania, he signed with Philadelphia out of Bradford High School in 1951, won 22 games in the low minors in 1952 and 22 more for Class B Terre Haute in 1953, and was named the International League's Rookie of the Year in 1954, arriving with what Phillies general manager Roy Hamey called the best curveball in baseball. An Army hitch cost him all of 1957 and all but one game of 1958. His one strong year came in 1959: 12-12 with a 3.21 ERA, 11 complete games, 135 strikeouts and the only shutout of his career for a last-place club. He was also a charter member of the hard-drinking group of Phillies that Sports Illustrated made notorious as the "Dalton Gang" in 1960, and that reputation trailed him for good. He finished 42-68 with a 4.31 ERA, 21 saves and 516 strikeouts in 286 games, then coached Houston's pitchers for six seasons, working with Larry Dierker, Mike Cuellar and Don Wilson.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 182 | 1 | 27 | 95 | 47 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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. 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
More Houston Astros cards:
- #21 Don Nottebart
- #45 Jim Gentile
- #64 Bob Bruce
- #86 John Bateman
- #106 Rusty Staub
- #122 Joe Gaines
- #147 Lum Harris
- #162 Lee Maye
- #174 Ron Taylor
- #195 Joe Morgan
- #228 Larry Dierker
- #244 Astros 1966 Rookie Stars
- #258 Dave Giusti
- #273 Astro Aces
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #297 card?
It is card #297 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Owens of the Houston Astros.
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.