1964 Topps #122 Don McMahon
About Don McMahon
Card #122, from Topps' second series, is McMahon's first American League card after seven National League seasons split between Milwaukee and Houston. Cleveland bought him for the $20,000 waiver price on September 30, 1963, the day after the Colt .45's season ended, a bargain pushed by Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts, the same skipper he had feuded with in Milwaukee a year and a half earlier. Rested over the winter after pitching hurt, McMahon took the Cleveland bullpen job at once and carried a 1.59 ERA at midseason.
Donald John McMahon was a right-handed relief pitcher from Brooklyn, New York, signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent in 1950 and converted from third base to the mound in their farm system. He did not reach the majors until June 30, 1957, at age 27, after roughly five and a half years in the minors and two years in the Army, and he believed he was the first pitcher ever called up strictly as a reliever. Used almost entirely out of the bullpen, he appeared in 874 games, just two of them as a starter, and finished 90-68 with a 2.96 ERA, 1,003 strikeouts and 153 saves. He was a 1958 National League All-Star selection and won World Series rings with the 1957 Braves and the 1968 Tigers, also pitching for the Colt .45's, Indians, Red Sox, White Sox and Giants. Sold or traded six times between ages 32 and 39, he had a habit of pitching his best ball in his first season with a new club. He never spent a day on the disabled list, and he threw his last big league pitch in 1974 at age 44 while serving as the Giants pitching coach.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 237 | 2 | 34 | 119 | 60 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 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: #172 Cleveland Indians
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- #105 Woody Held
- #133 Jim Grant
- #146 Indians 1964 Rookie Stars
- #184 Al Luplow
- #199 Joe Azcue
- #216 Mike de la Hoz
- #234 Gary Bell
- #253 Wally Post
- #301 Larry Brown
- #317 Al Smith
- #338 Jack Kralick
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #122 card?
It is card #122 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don McMahon of the Cleveland Indians.
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.