1964 Topps #522 Bobby Tiefenauer
About Bobby Tiefenauer
1964 Topps #522 is a sixth-series card, and it reached buyers during the best summer of Tiefenauer's career. Milwaukee had picked him up in August 1963; that winter manager Bobby Bragan declared the Braves no longer had a bullpen problem, counting on Bob Shaw and Tiefenauer - then Shaw was traded to San Francisco within days and the fireman's job fell to the 34-year-old knuckleballer alone. He answered with 46 appearances, a 4-6 record, a 3.21 ERA and 13 saves, eighth most in the National League, with 48 strikeouts in 73 innings.
Bobby Gene Tiefenauer was a hard-thrown knuckleball reliever born October 10, 1929, in Desloge, Missouri, a small town about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis. The Cardinals signed him out of an open tryout, released him in the spring of 1948 before he threw a professional pitch, then re-signed him that August. What followed was 21 years of pro ball in which the minors, not the majors, held his best work: 162 wins and a 2.66 ERA over 2,039 innings, including a 49-15 stretch across four International League seasons between 1958 and 1963. In the big leagues he pitched parts of ten seasons between 1952 and 1968 for six clubs - Cardinals, Indians, Colt .45s, Braves, Yankees and Cubs - always in relief, going 9-25 with 23 saves and a 3.84 ERA in 179 games. His best year came in 1964 with Milwaukee. Catchers dreaded the pitch; his Detroit teammates would not warm him up on the sidelines without a facemask. Known as Pete at home, he coached about a dozen years in the Phillies organization, including 1979 on their major league staff as bullpen coach. He died June 13, 2000, in Desloge at 70, and was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 189 | 1 | 24 | 94 | 43 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 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: #132 Milwaukee Braves
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #3 1963 National League Pitching Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #9 1963 National League Home Run Leaders
- #11 1963 National League R.B.I. Leaders
- #35 Ed Mathews
- #53 Denis Menke
- #65 Felipe Alou
- #70 Joe Torre
- #94 Braves 1964 Rookie Stars
- #115 Frank Bolling
- #152 Denver Lemaster
- #171 Ty Cline
- #198 Len Gabrielson
- #218 Hank Fischer
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #522 card?
It is card #522 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bobby Tiefenauer of the Milwaukee Braves.
Why is #522 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.