1964 Topps #23 Chris Zachary
About Chris Zachary
Zachary's rookie card catches him coming off a full 1963 season on Houston's staff, where he worked 22 games and 57 innings as a 19-year-old, including a memorable debut inning against Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. By the time this card reached shelves he had moved on to a big 1964 in the minors, winning 16 games for Double-A San Antonio and being named the Texas League's top pitcher, with only a brief late-season callup back to the Colt .45s.
Chris Zachary was a right-handed pitcher from Knoxville, Tennessee who spent nine seasons in the majors between 1963 and 1973. Signed by Houston, he made his debut in just the Colt .45s' third game of 1963, facing Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda in his first inning of work. He stayed mostly in the minors after his rookie year, resurfacing briefly with the Astros, then moving through the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates. His best big-league stretch came in 1972, when Detroit called him up from Toledo and he posted a 1.41 ERA out of Billy Martin's bullpen as the Tigers won the AL East, earning him his only postseason appearance that fall. He finished with a 10-29 career record and 184 strikeouts, and pitched several more seasons in the minors before retiring after 1974. He died in his hometown of Knoxville in 2003.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 162 | 0 | 14 | 76 | 38 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 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
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
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- #56 Hal Brown
- #109 Rusty Staub
- #121 Pete Runnels
- #142 John Bateman
- #158 Ken Johnson
- #179 Carl Warwick
- #205 Nellie Fox
- #226 Colts 1964 Rookie Stars
- #241 Jim Owens
- #256 Johnny Weekly
- #282 Bob Bruce
- #298 Harry Craft
- #321 Bob Lillis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #23 card?
It is card #23 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chris Zachary of the Houston Colt .45's.
Is 1964 Topps #23 a rookie card?
Yes - #23 is the 1964 Topps rookie card of Chris Zachary.
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.