1974 Topps #461 John Odom
About John Odom
Blue Moon Odom fell to 5-12 with a 4.49 ERA in 1973, starting 24 of his 30 games for Oakland. In the postseason Dick Williams used him in relief: five innings and one earned run in the Game 2 ALCS loss to Baltimore, then two appearances against the Mets in the World Series. Card #461 in the 1974 Topps set pictures him with the Athletics.
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 | 150 | 2 | 45 | 78 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #246 Oakland A's
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- #103 Sal Bando
- #130 Reggie Jackson
- #141 Pat Bourque
- #155 Bert Campaneris
- #180 Ken Holtzman
- #202 1973 Home Run Leaders
- #203 1973 Runs Batted In Leaders
- #212 Rollie Fingers
- #228 Ted Kubiak
- #264 Joe Rudi
- #290 Vida Blue
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #461 card?
It is card #461 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Odom of the Oakland Athletics.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
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.