1964 Topps #541 Braves Rookie Stars - Phil Roof / Phil Niekro
On this card: Phil Roof, Phil Niekro
The rookie-card designation on this card belongs to Phil Niekro, not to Phil Roof.
About this card
This is one of the fifty-seven two-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1964 Topps set: fifty-three pair two prospects from one club, and the four league cards (#548, #564, #568 and #572) pair prospects from two clubs. Every one of them is a rookie card for at least one of its two players.
The story on this card
Roof's entire 1964 big-league season was one game, a May 31 start behind the plate against the Cubs that produced two hitless at-bats; he spent the rest of the year at Denver and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels after the season. That April he and Warren Spahn had been picked up after hours at a Houston night club, an episode they escaped without a fine. The card is the collectible: 1964 Topps #541 is a high number from the seventh series and one of the key rookie cards in the whole set, because the other Braves Rookie Star on it is Phil Niekro. The rookie designation belongs to Niekro, not to Roof. Fifteen big-league seasons and eight uniforms on the strength of catching, not hitting: a .215 lifetime batter who threw runners out, then spent nearly three decades coaching in big-league bullpens and managing in the minors.
Niekro's first Topps card is #541, a Braves Rookie Stars issue pairing him with catcher Phil Roof in the seventh and final series of the 1964 set, a high number and one of the key rookie cards of the year. He had thrown all of 15 big-league innings when it was printed, working out of the Milwaukee bullpen before a May demotion to Triple-A Denver; he had spent 1963 in an Army uniform at Fort Knox. Phil Niekro, Knucksie, rode a knuckleball through 24 seasons to 318 wins, a 3.35 ERA, five All-Star teams and five Gold Gloves, nearly all of it with the Braves; the only knuckleballer to reach 300 wins, he entered the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Sources: Wikipedia (Phil Roof) · Wikipedia (Phil Niekro) · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac (Phil Roof) · Stats Crew
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,285 | 3 | 69 | 448 | 480 | 436 | 339 | 504 | 6 |
| SGC | 678 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 96 | 153 | 159 | 217 | 7 |
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 #541 card?
It is card #541 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Phil Roof and Phil Niekro. This is one of the fifty-seven two-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1964 Topps set: fifty-three pair two prospects from one club, and the four league cards (#548, #564, #568 and #572) pair prospects from two clubs. Every one of them is a rookie card for at least one of its two players.
Whose rookie card is #541?
Phil Niekro's. Phil Roof shares the card, but the rookie-card designation on #541 Braves Rookie Stars belongs to Niekro.
What are the key cards in the 1964 Topps set?
The #50 Mickey Mantle anchors the set, with #150 Willie Mays, #200 Sandy Koufax, #300 Hank Aaron, #440 Bob Clemente, #55 Ernie Banks and #125 Pete Rose (wearing the All-Star Rookie trophy) among the stars, the #331 A.L. Bombers card gathering Mantle with Roger Maris, Norm Cash and Al Kaline, the #423 Tops in NL card pairing Aaron and Mays, and the #243 Richie Allen and #541 Phil Niekro Rookie Stars cards.
Is 1964 Topps #541 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #523-587, distributed last. Scarcer than the rest of the set but only mildly so - the high premium runs roughly 55-60 percent, far milder than the 1952-62 highs.
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.