Topps had something special in their hands when they prepared Sam McDowell’s 1963 baseball card. The original artwork measuring 4.25″ x 5″ captures the young Cleveland fireballer in a dynamic, full-color (Update 24 August 2025: no idea why I didn’t originally refer to this as a flexichrome artwork, more like it in The Original Artwork Archive) pitching pose. It’s crisp, vibrant, and ready to pop right off the cardboard.
But instead of showcasing this image in all its glory, Topps relegated it to the “in-action” shot in the lower right corner of McDowell’s card. Shrunk down dramatically and converted to black and white, the photograph lost the energy and detail that made the original artwork so captivating.
Update 24 August 2025: Keith Olbermann shared a link in the comments to McDowell’s in-action, Cleveland team black and white publicity shot over on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s blog.
It’s another example of how Topps sometimes missed the mark with their design choices in the 1960s, especially when they had the raw material to make something iconic.
As for the card itself, a PSA 10 would be a true hobby monster. The PSA Population Report lists 21 copies in PSA 9, but no 10s exist. And those 9s are going for almost $500 these days.
The original artwork, though, is the real gem here. Seeing it in full size and color is a reminder of how much magic can be lost between concept and production.
Happy collecting!
Check out The Original Artwork Archive for more!
P.S. McDowell led the American League in strikeouts five times.
But it’s NOT a color photo. It’s a colorized version of a Cleveland team b&w publicity shot. That’s the hand-airbrushed work of an industrial graphic artist, what Topps described as a “flexichrome.”
It’s shown here in its original B&W form on the BBHOF blog https://baseballhall.org/discover/card-corner/1963-topps-sam-mcdowell
Sweet. Thanks for the link!