1970 Topps #55 John Odom
About John Odom
Odom hit five home runs in 1969, when Oakland went 88-74 and finished second to Minnesota in the AL West. The 1970 club improved by one game and finished second to the Twins again, while Odom slipped to 9-8 with a 3.80 ERA and added three more homers. Topps placed him at #55 in its first series.
Johnny Lee Odom grew up in Macon, Georgia, where a fifth-grade classmate started calling him Blue Moon because his round face looked like the moon. He went 42-2 at Ballard-Hudson High with eight no-hitters and led the school to two straight state titles. He then signed with Kansas City for a $75,000 bonus and reported to the Double-A Birmingham Barons in 1964, a Deep South assignment that put him in the middle of the era's racial hostility. He reached the majors that September at nineteen, and six days after a battering by the Yankees he shut out Baltimore on two hits. More seasoning at Lewiston and Mobile followed. Odom's arrival as a quality starter coincided with the franchise's move to Oakland: he went 16-10 with a 2.45 ERA in 1968 and 15-6 in 1969, making the All-Star team both years. He was on the roster for all three of Oakland's consecutive championships starting in 1972, working mostly in relief by 1974. He hit 12 home runs, unusual production for a pitcher, and finished 84-85 with a 3.70 ERA over 13 seasons. Cleveland, Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox followed; he was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 187 | 2 | 40 | 114 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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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Related cards
Team card: #631 Oakland Athletics
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- #64 1969 American League RBI Leaders
- #66 1969 American League Home Run Leaders
- #102 Joe Rudi
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- #140 Reggie Jackson
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- #259 Tommie Reynolds
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- #381 Athletics 1970 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #55 card?
It is card #55 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Odom of the Oakland Athletics.
Is #55 John Odom the same player as Blue Moon Odom?
Yes. The card front prints "John Odom", so it is listed here as printed, with Blue Moon Odom as the name he is also known by.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.