1964 Topps #24 Carl Sawatski
About Carl Sawatski
1964 Topps #24 is a low first-series number; it is the last of his four cards in Topps' 1961-69 run. Anyone who pulled it was looking at a St. Louis catcher who had already stopped playing. Sawatski's last big-league game came on September 29, 1963, and he retired that winter, the same offseason Stan Musial ended a 22-year Cardinals career. All four of his Topps cards from this decade show him with the Cardinals, the club he finished with.
Carl Ernest Sawatski (1927-1991) was a left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing catcher who played eleven big-league seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals between 1948 and 1963. A self-converted catcher and prodigious minor-league slugger, he led four different leagues in home runs over his first five pro seasons and picked up the nickname "Swish" for the sound of his bat. He stuck for good with the pennant-winning 1957 Braves, pinch-hitting twice in their seven-game World Series win over the New York Yankees and striking out both times. A classic pull hitter kept as a backup catcher and pinch-hitter, he fit St. Louis best: over four years there the short right field at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, the old Sportsman's Park, helped him bat .316 with 25 home runs at home against .193 on the road. He retired with 58 home runs, 213 RBIs and a .242 average in 633 games, then ran the Arkansas Travelers as general manager and served as Texas League president from 1976 until his death in 1991, earning the Warren Giles Award in 1987. He entered the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 257 | 1 | 21 | 110 | 85 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 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: #87 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #11 1963 National League R.B.I. Leaders
- #40 Dick Groat
- #59 Ernie Broglio
- #103 Curt Flood
- #119 Gary Kolb
- #147 Ray Sadecki
- #160 Ken Boyer
- #183 Ron Taylor
- #211 Jim Coker
- #240 Bill White
- #262 Cardinals 1964 Rookie Stars
- #278 Bobby Shantz
- #295 Roger Craig
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #24 card?
It is card #24 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Carl Sawatski of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.