1962 Topps #63 Tony Cloninger
About Tony Cloninger
His 1962 Topps card, #63, is the recognized Cloninger rookie card, a first-series issue picturing the 20-year-old in Milwaukee Braves flannels after his call-up from Triple-A Louisville. The back covers a 1961 debut season of 7-2 with a 5.25 ERA and three complete games in 19 games and 10 starts - the ERA says one thing, the closing rush another, since five of those wins came in a season-ending streak that began August 6 and carried a 2.66 ERA. He had debuted June 15 at Candlestick Park by retiring the first six Giants he faced, Willie Mays included, before Willie McCovey beat him with a two-run homer.
Tony Lee Cloninger was a North Carolina fireballer who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in the spring of 1958 for a $100,000 bonus and reached the majors on June 15, 1961, two months shy of his 21st birthday. As Warren Spahn's career wound down, Cloninger took over as staff ace and led the Braves in wins three straight seasons, peaking in 1965 at 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts. He could swing a bat, too: on July 3, 1966 he hit two grand slams and drove in nine runs in a 17-3 rout of the Giants, and he remains the only pitcher in major-league history to hit two slams in a game. A pulled shoulder muscle, an eye ailment and a sore elbow cost him most of 1967, and Atlanta traded him to Cincinnati in June 1968. He started Game Three of the 1970 World Series for the pennant-winning Reds, closed out his playing days with the Cardinals in 1972 at 113-97 with a 4.07 ERA over twelve seasons, then coached, winning four World Series rings in the New York Yankees bullpen. He was never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame; the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame took him in 2004. Cloninger died on July 24, 2018.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 292 | 0 | 6 | 119 | 120 | 32 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
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
Team card: #158 Milwaukee Braves Team
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #30 Ed Mathews
- #76 Howie Bedell
- #100 Warren Spahn
- #109 Bob Shaw
- #130 Frank Bolling
- #174 Carl Willey
- #186 Mack Jones
- #211 Midway Masters
- #218 Joe Torre
- #239 Cecil Butler
- #259 Lou Klimchock
- #265 Joe Adcock
- #289 Mike Krsnich
- #312 Warren Spahn
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #63 card?
It is card #63 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Cloninger of the Milwaukee Braves.
Is 1962 Topps #63 a rookie card?
Yes - #63 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of Tony Cloninger.
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.