1962 Topps #5 Sandy Koufax
The text on the back of this card is cut off mid-word, printing 'struck ou' where it should read 'struck out.'
Uncorrected error: The text on the back is cut off at "struck ou" - it should read "struck out"
About Sandy Koufax
Number 5 is Koufax's own 1962 card and number 60 the National League Strikeout Leaders. Both are first-series cards - his first Topps card had come out in 1955. They report the breakthrough: 18-13 in 1961 with a 3.52 ERA and 269 strikeouts, a modern-era National League record that erased Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old mark of 267. The board on number 60 shows how far clear of the field he had pulled, with Stan Williams next at 205, then Don Drysdale and Jim O'Toole. The back of number 5 is cut off mid-word, printing 'struck ou' where it should read 'struck out.'
Sanford Koufax, born Sanford Braun in Brooklyn, signed with his hometown Dodgers in December 1954 as a bonus-rule player and never spent a day in the minor leagues; the missing apprenticeship left him wild for six seasons. The turn came in 1961, when a tightened delivery and a catcher's advice to stop overthrowing made him a winning pitcher. He led the National League in earned run average five straight years, 1962 through 1966, and was an All-Star in each of his last six seasons. He threw four no-hitters, one of them a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on September 9, 1965, and won the Cy Young Award three times, in 1963, 1965 and 1966, each time unanimously and as the sport's only winner before the award split by league. He added the 1963 National League Most Valuable Player award and the pitching Triple Crown in all three Cy Young years, was World Series MVP in 1963 and 1965, and led the Dodgers to titles both years; his refusal to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 Series on Yom Kippur made him a lasting figure in American Jewish life. Arthritis in his elbow forced him out after 1966 at 30, and he entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, at 36 the youngest player ever inducted.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 4,249 | 0 | 10 | 171 | 624 | 880 | 889 | 1,657 | 18 |
| SGC | 1,947 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 119 | 261 | 470 | 1,001 | 78 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Related cards
More Sandy Koufax in this set: #60 League Leaders
Team card: #43 Los Angeles Dodgers Team
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #32 John Roseboro
- #69 Phil Ortega
- #108 Willie Davis
- #129 Lee Walls
- #131 Pete Richert
- #175 Frank Howard
- #190 Wally Moon
- #197 Daryl Spencer
- #217 Walt Alston
- #238 Norm Sherry
- #280 Johnny Podres
- #297 Ron Perranoski
- #340 Don Drysdale
- #348 Larry Burright
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #5 card?
It is card #5 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What are the key cards in the 1962 Topps set?
The #200 Mickey Mantle anchors the set, with #1 Roger Maris opening it, #300 Willie Mays, #320 Hank Aaron, #5 Sandy Koufax and #10 Bob Clemente (printed under the shortened name Topps used for him) among the stars, #18 Managers' Dream pairing Mantle and Mays, and Mantle again on the #471 AL All-Star card. The #387 Lou Brock and #199 Gaylord Perry rookies head the first-year cards, and #530 Bob Gibson sits in the short-printed high series (#523-598), the hardest cards to find. Behind them come the #218 Joe Torre rookie, Mantle's #318 In Action card and the ten-card Babe Ruth Special.
Does 1962 Topps #5 have an error?
The text on the back is cut off at "struck ou" - it should read "struck out". It was never corrected, so there is no variation to chase - every copy of #5 reads the same way.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-03.