1964 Topps #5 1963 National League Strikeout Leaders - Sandy Koufax / Jim Maloney / Don Drysdale
On this card: Sandy Koufax, Jim Maloney, Don Drysdale
About this card
Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset that opens the set: twelve cards recapping the 1963 leaders in six categories (E.R.A., pitching, strikeouts, batting, home runs and R.B.I.), the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
The story on this card
The 1963 NL Strikeout Leaders on this card are a Dodgers-Reds sweep from top to bottom. Sandy Koufax led with 306 strikeouts in his Cy Young, MVP, and pitching Triple Crown season, going 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 11 shutouts as Los Angeles swept the Yankees in the World Series. Cincinnati's Jim Maloney was next at 265, a career best highlighted by 23-7 with six shutouts and a new Reds strikeout record. Koufax's own teammate Don Drysdale rounded out the trio, striking out 251 while going 19-17 over 315 innings. Card number 5 sits in the 1964 Topps set's first series and groups their 1963 strikeout totals on one League Leaders panel instead of giving each man his own card.
Sandy Koufax was the Dodgers' left-hander nicknamed 'the Left Arm of God,' whose five-year run of dominance from 1962 to 1966 brought three unanimous Cy Young Awards and four no-hitters, including a perfect game, before an arthritic elbow forced his retirement at 30. Jim Maloney - Fresno fastballer who anchored the Cincinnati rotation through the mid-1960s: 134 wins, 1,605 strikeouts, two no-hitters and four straight 200-strikeout seasons before arm trouble and a torn Achilles ended him at 32. Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' intimidating right-hander for 14 seasons, the 1962 Cy Young winner and a three-time World Series champion who in 1968 ran off six straight shutouts and a record 58 2/3 scoreless innings.
Sources: Wikipedia (Sandy Koufax) · Wikipedia (Jim Maloney) · Wikipedia (Don Drysdale) · SABR BioProject (Sandy Koufax) · SABR BioProject (Jim Maloney) · SABR BioProject (Don Drysdale) · National Baseball Hall of Fame (1) · National Baseball Hall of Fame (2) · Baseball Almanac (Jim Maloney) · Baseball Almanac (Don Drysdale)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,572 | 0 | 46 | 370 | 407 | 270 | 208 | 263 | 8 |
| SGC | 341 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 62 | 73 | 77 | 102 | 4 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. 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 cards: #531 L. A. Dodgers, #403 Cincinnati Reds
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #3 1963 National League Pitching Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #14 Dodgers 1964 Rookie Stars
- #30 Ron Perranoski
- #51 Pete Richert
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #3 1963 National League Pitching Leaders
- #33 Reds 1964 Rookie Stars
- #49 Bill Henry
- #72 Chico Cardenas
- #80 Vada Pinson
- #106 Joe Nuxhall
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #5 card?
It is card #5 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sandy Koufax, Jim Maloney and Don Drysdale. Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset that opens the set: twelve cards recapping the 1963 leaders in six categories (E.R.A., pitching, strikeouts, batting, home runs and R.B.I.), the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
How many cards are in the 1964 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 589 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 587 with no gaps, and no number carries two different cards; two cards - #4, the A.L. Pitching Leaders, and #517, the seventh-series checklist - carry a catalogued back variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-11.