1964 Topps #143 Bubba Phillips
About Bubba Phillips
Card 143, in Topps' second series of 1964, pictures Phillips as a Tiger after a season spent mostly at third base, but by the time it circulated Don Wert had the job for good. Phillips, 36, got into just 46 games, started 19 at third, and came to bat only 87 times, hitting .253 with three home runs and six RBIs - the fewest runs he drove in over any of his ten seasons. His final big-league appearance came that September as a pinch-runner against Cleveland, the club he had played for two years earlier. It is the last card Topps put out while he was still active.
John Melvin "Bubba" Phillips was a third baseman and outfielder, born in West Point, Mississippi on February 24, 1928, who spent ten seasons in the majors from 1955 through 1964 with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. A football standout at Macon High School and a team captain and Little All-America running back at Mississippi Southern College, he chose baseball over a professional football future with the San Francisco 49ers and signed with the Detroit organization in 1948, then spent 1953 and 1954 in the Army before reaching the big leagues in 1955. After early years as a reserve outfielder, he moved to third base with the White Sox in 1957 and stayed at the position, helping Chicago win the 1959 American League pennant and going 3-for-10 in a six-game World Series loss to the Dodgers. Traded to Cleveland that December, he had his best year in 1961, leading American League third basemen with 18 home runs. He closed out his career back in Detroit in 1963 and 1964 and retired with a .255 average, 62 home runs, and 356 RBIs in 1,062 games. Mississippi elected him to its Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 271 | 4 | 40 | 140 | 59 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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: #67 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #6 1963 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #8 1963 American League Batting Leaders
- #12 1963 American League R.B.I. Leaders
- #19 Don Wert
- #39 Hank Aguirre
- #58 Don Demeter
- #98 Bill Bruton
- #128 Mickey Lolich
- #165 Jerry Lumpe
- #181 Dave Wickersham
- #197 Frank Lary
- #236 Bill Faul
- #250 Al Kaline
- #272 Jake Wood
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #143 card?
It is card #143 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bubba Phillips of the Detroit Tigers.
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.