1964 Topps #86 Al Downing
About Al Downing
Downing's 1964 cards report his 1963 breakout, when the left-hander went 13-5 with a 2.56 ERA over 24 games and 175.2 innings, his first real turn in the Yankees rotation after two token call-ups. His solo card #86 sits in the set's first series; card #219, 'Young Aces,' pairs him in the third series with right-hander Jim Bouton, who had gone 21-7 with a 2.53 ERA that same summer. His rookie card came in 1962.
Alphonso Erwin Downing, a left-handed pitcher born June 28, 1941, in Trenton, New Jersey, signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1961 and reached the majors that July at age 20, becoming the first Black pitcher in franchise history when he took the mound on July 19. He spent parts of nine seasons in pinstripes, breaking out in 1963 at 13-5 with a 2.56 ERA and leading the American League with 217 strikeouts in 1964. On August 11, 1967, the year of his only All-Star selection, he struck out the side on nine pitches against Cleveland, the majors' first immaculate inning since 1964. Traded to Oakland before 1970 and to Milwaukee that June, he found a second act with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 20 games with a league-leading five shutouts in 1971 and taking National League Comeback Player of the Year. He is remembered above all for one pitch: on April 8, 1974, he surrendered Hank Aaron's record-breaking 715th home run. He finished 123-107 with a 3.22 ERA and 1,639 strikeouts over 17 seasons, later broadcasting for the Dodgers.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 293 | 1 | 21 | 116 | 76 | 42 | 14 | 22 | 1 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
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
More Al Downing in this set: #219 Young Aces
Team card: #433 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees cards:
- #4 1963 American League Pitching Leaders
- #21 Yogi Berra
- #36 Hal Reniff
- #50 Mickey Mantle
- #69 Clete Boyer
- #100 Elston Howard
- #118 John Blanchard
- #139 World Series Game #4 - Sealing Yanks' Doom
- #164 Bud Daley
- #190 Bobby Richardson
- #206 Steve Hamilton
- #219 Young Aces
- #225 Roger Maris
- #259 Harry Bright
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #86 card?
It is card #86 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al Downing of the New York Yankees.
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.