1964 Topps #486 Bob Kennedy
Card prints his title as head coach rather than manager, from the Cubs' College of Coaches era; collectors count it among the set's manager cards despite the different title.
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 Bob Kennedy
By 1964 Kennedy was out of uniform as a player and running the Cubs, having taken sole charge of the club in 1963 after Chicago's brief run of rotating coaches. The team slipped to a 76-86, eighth-place finish that season, hampered by the death of 1962 NL Rookie of the Year Ken Hubbs in a February plane crash and the June trade of young outfielder Lou Brock. His 1964 Topps card, number 486, comes from the set's sixth series. The card carries his title as head coach, the term the Cubs still used for the man running the bench during that stretch.
Bob Kennedy broke in with the White Sox in 1939 and by 1940, at 19, became the first teenager since 1900 to play 150 games in a season, holding down third base. Three years of Marine Corps service during World War II interrupted his prime; back from the war he shifted to right field, where his strong, accurate arm played best. Traded to Cleveland in 1948, he helped the Indians to the World Series that fall and posted his best numbers in 1950, batting .291 with career highs in runs and hits. He closed out a 16-year playing career in 1954-57 with stops in Baltimore, back with the White Sox, Detroit and Brooklyn, finishing at .254 with 63 home runs and 514 RBI in 1,483 games. After retiring as a player he moved into scouting, coaching and managing, eventually running two different major-league clubs from the dugout.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 196 | 0 | 27 | 99 | 42 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 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: #237 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #29 Lou Brock
- #55 Ernie Banks
- #78 Merritt Ranew
- #96 Bob Buhl
- #111 Don Elston
- #131 Steve Boros
- #175 Billy Williams
- #192 Cubs 1964 Rookie Stars
- #220 Dick Ellsworth
- #252 Ken Aspromonte
- #269 Ellis Burton
- #286 Don Landrum
- #309 Paul Toth
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #486 card?
It is card #486 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Kennedy of the Chicago Cubs. 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 Bob Kennedy's card printed Head Coach?
The Cubs were still running their College of Coaches in 1964, so #486 prints Kennedy's title as Head Coach rather than Manager. It is counted among the set's twenty manager cards, one for each franchise.
Why is #486 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.