1964 Topps #478 Dick Howser
About Dick Howser
Number 478 is Howser's first Topps card in a Cleveland uniform, from the sixth series. Behind it was the half-season that introduced him to the Indians: 49 games after the May trade, a .247 average, 25 runs scored and nine stolen bases, interrupted by a string of pulled leg muscles. He spent the winter on a program to strengthen his legs, and Cleveland handed him the everyday shortstop job, manager Birdie Tebbetts praising him as a coachable, all-out player who could run and handle the ball.
Richard Dalton Howser was born in Miami on May 14, 1936 and grew up in West Palm Beach, where he finished at Palm Beach High School. A walk-on at Florida State University, he batted .422 as a sophomore in 1956 and in 1957 became the first consensus All-America selection from the state of Florida, repeating the honor in 1958. He signed with the Kansas City Athletics on June 13, 1958 and reached the majors on Opening Day 1961. Across eight seasons with the Athletics, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees he played mostly shortstop, with stretches at second and third base, batting .248 with 617 hits, 165 RBIs and 105 stolen bases in 789 games. He hit and threw right-handed and was listed at 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds. Howser coached third base for the Yankees from 1969 through 1978 and managed a single Yankees game in 1978, spent 1979 as head coach at Florida State, then managed New York in 1980 and the Kansas City Royals from 1981 to 1986, winning the 1985 World Series. He died of brain cancer on June 17, 1987 at 51, and is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the Royals Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 229 | 2 | 28 | 131 | 41 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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: #172 Cleveland Indians
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- #105 Woody Held
- #122 Don McMahon
- #133 Jim Grant
- #146 Indians 1964 Rookie Stars
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- #199 Joe Azcue
- #216 Mike de la Hoz
- #234 Gary Bell
- #253 Wally Post
- #301 Larry Brown
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #478 card?
It is card #478 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dick Howser of the Cleveland Indians.
Why is #478 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.