1964 Topps #117 Earl Francis
About Earl Francis
Optioned back to Columbus at the end of spring training, Francis spent almost all of 1964 in the International League, leading the Jets with 29 starts and 180 innings while going 10-10. Pittsburgh recalled him in September for two appearances, the second of them the season finale in Milwaukee, where he gave up six runs in five innings of a 6-0 loss. That was the last start of his major league career and his last game in a Pirates uniform; in December he went to St. Louis with outfielder Ted Savage. Topps put him at #117 in the second series.
Earl Coleman Francis, born July 14, 1935 in Slab Fork, West Virginia, was a right-handed pitcher who spent parts of six seasons in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals between 1960 and 1965. Signed by the Pirates in 1954 out of American Legion ball, he pitched one season in Class D, then served a four-year hitch in the U.S. Air Force, leading Bolling Air Force Base to the service's world title in 1958, before returning to the Pirates system in 1959. He debuted in Pittsburgh on June 30, 1960 and was on the club's World Series championship roster that fall without appearing in the Series. Standing 6-foot-2 and built like a football player, Francis drew praise from manager Danny Murtaugh for having the best fastball and curve on the staff, but recurring arm and shoulder trouble kept him from sustaining that promise. He finished with a 16-23 record, a 3.77 ERA and 263 strikeouts in 103 games and 405 2/3 innings, pitched his last big league game on September 27, 1965, and left organized baseball after the 1966 season. He settled in the Pittsburgh area, worked as a meatcutter, and died there in 2002 at age 66.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 234 | 2 | 21 | 118 | 69 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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: #373 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #20 Bob Friend
- #37 Smoky Burgess
- #62 Ted Savage
- #74 Pirates 1964 Rookie Stars
- #91 Bob Bailey
- #141 Danny Murtaugh
- #163 Donn Clendenon
- #193 Jerry Lynch
- #209 Bob Allen
- #224 Tommie Sisk
- #246 Manny Mota
- #266 Gene Freese
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #117 card?
It is card #117 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Earl Francis of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.