1969 Topps #643 Billy Cowan
About Billy Cowan
By 1969 Cowan had settled into the role that defined the back half of his career, a utility outfielder and occasional infielder who split the season between the Yankees and the Angels, seeing time in both the outfield and at first base across the two stops. Card #643 is a high number from the set's seventh series, issued that year showing him with the New York Yankees, one of the two teams he wore that season before finishing it in California.
Billy Rolland Cowan was an outfielder from Calhoun City, Mississippi, who grew up in Bakersfield, California, and starred at East Bakersfield High School before attending the University of Utah. He signed with the Cubs organization in 1961 and tore through the minors, hitting 35 home runs across two levels in 1962 and following it with a 1963 Pacific Coast League MVP season in which he led the circuit with 120 RBI. Cowan reached Chicago that September and became the Cubs' starting center fielder in 1964, but a trade that winter sent him to the Mets for outfielder George Altman and opened a well-traveled second act. Over eight big-league seasons he also wore the uniforms of the Braves, Phillies, Yankees and Angels, settling in as a right-handed-hitting utility outfielder, occasional infielder and pinch hitter who spent two full seasons back in the minors along the way. He found his most consistent big-league form off the bench in California before retiring in 1972, finishing with 493 games, 281 hits and a .236 career average.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 276 | 3 | 64 | 136 | 53 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #643 card?
It is card #643 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Cowan of the New York Yankees.
Why is #643 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #589-664 - the scarce end of the set.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
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 2026-10-12.