1964 Topps #462 Birdie Tebbetts
About this card
This is one of the twenty manager cards in the 1964 Topps set, one for each franchise. Nineteen are printed Manager; #486 Bob Kennedy is printed Head Coach because the Cubs were still running their College of Coaches.
About Birdie Tebbetts
Card 462 comes out of the 1964 set's sixth series, and it reached packs during a season Tebbetts nearly missed in full. He suffered a heart attack in Tucson on April 1, just as spring training was ending, and coach George Strickland ran the Indians as acting manager through July 2. Early reports had him out for most of the year, so his return in early July counted as fast work. Tebbetts went 46-44 over the 90 games he did manage, and Cleveland finished 79-83, tied with Minnesota for sixth in the American League.
Birdie Tebbetts caught for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1952 and was rated the best catcher in the American League in the late 1940s. He did not hit for power and he lacked speed, but he was an exceptional receiver, a smart handler of pitchers and a relentless needler of opposing hitters. Fourteen big league seasons left him with exactly 1,000 hits and a .270 average along with four All-Star selections, and three further seasons went to Army Air Corps service in World War II. He managed the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1954 until he resigned in August 1958, and the 91-63 third-place club he ran in 1956 made him Manager of the Year and landed him on the cover of Time the following July. An executive job with the Milwaukee Braves came next, then a return to the dugout with Milwaukee and Cleveland. He scouted for close to three decades after his managing days, working for the Mets, Yankees and Orioles, and in a 1969 fan poll he was voted the best catcher in Red Sox history.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 182 | 3 | 25 | 84 | 42 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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
Team card: #172 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #64 Ted Abernathy
- #77 Jerry Walker
- #105 Woody Held
- #122 Don McMahon
- #133 Jim Grant
- #146 Indians 1964 Rookie Stars
- #184 Al Luplow
- #199 Joe Azcue
- #216 Mike de la Hoz
- #234 Gary Bell
- #253 Wally Post
- #301 Larry Brown
- #317 Al Smith
- #338 Jack Kralick
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #462 card?
It is card #462 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Birdie Tebbetts of the Cleveland Indians. This is one of the twenty manager cards in the 1964 Topps set, one for each franchise. Nineteen are printed Manager; #486 Bob Kennedy is printed Head Coach because the Cubs were still running their College of Coaches.
Why is #462 harder to find?
It is a series 5-6 card. Cards from the fifth and sixth print series (#371-522) are a step tougher to find than #1-370; availability in 1964 runs in three tiers, not a cliff.
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.