1964 Topps #112 Bob Tillman
About Bob Tillman
The second-series card at number 112 belongs to the best year of Tillman's career. He reported to camp in better shape, reclaimed the top job, and set personal highs almost across the board: .278 with 118 hits, 18 doubles, 17 home runs, 61 RBIs, 49 walks, and a .796 OPS over 131 games. The Sporting News started calling him Tillie the Terror, and he tied Tim McCarver for fourth among big-league catchers in runs created. The throwing was still a problem, as he allowed 61 stolen bases, more than any catcher in the majors, and Pesky was fired before the season ended.
John Robert Tillman, a 6-foot-4 right-handed catcher born in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 24, 1937, caught nine big-league seasons for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves between 1962 and 1970. Signed out of Middle Tennessee State by Red Sox scout George Digby in January 1958, he climbed through Raleigh, Allentown, Minneapolis, and Seattle before sticking in Boston in 1962. He was the Red Sox Opening Day catcher three years running from 1963, and his 17 home runs in 1964 set a club single-season record for a catcher that stood until Carlton Fisk hit 22 in 1972. Tillman worked behind the plate for two no-hitters, Earl Wilson's in 1962 and Dave Morehead's in 1965. Sold to the Yankees in August 1967, he went to Atlanta that December in the trade that sent Bobby Cox to New York, backing up Joe Torre and then Bob Didier and reaching the postseason when the Braves won the first National League West title in 1969. He retired after 775 games with a .232 average, 79 home runs, and 282 RBIs. He died in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 265 | 2 | 33 | 126 | 70 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 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
Team card: #579 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #8 1963 American League Batting Leaders
- #10 1963 American League Home Run Leaders
- #12 1963 American League R.B.I. Leaders
- #25 Bill Monbouquette
- #60 Frank Malzone
- #79 Bob Heffner
- #93 Gary Geiger
- #153 Dick Williams
- #170 Dick Radatz
- #182 Sox Sockers
- #186 Roman Mejias
- #210 Carl Yastrzemski
- #228 Felix Mantilla
- #248 Johnny Pesky
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #112 card?
It is card #112 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Tillman of the Boston Red Sox.
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.