1964 Topps #56 Hal Brown
About Hal Brown
The first-series #56 is his only Topps card in a Houston uniform, and it follows the strangest line of his career. Pitching for a second-year expansion club that scored fewer runs than anyone in the National League, Brown walked eight batters in 141 1/3 innings in 1963 - the finest control any pitcher had shown since 1900 to that point - posted a 3.31 ERA, and still finished 5-11. Three of his five wins were shutouts, and he lost 1-0 twice more. The run support stayed cruel in 1964, his last season, when he went 3-15 with a 3.95 ERA and made his final appearance on September 16 before going home to Greensboro and the heating-oil business.
Hector Harold Brown grew up in Pomona, a cotton-mill section of Greensboro, North Carolina, one of eight children in a family where everybody had a nickname; his was Skinny, hung on him as a chubby baby and never shaken. A hard-hitting high school and American Legion shortstop, he drew the eye of North Carolina coach and part-time Red Sox scout Bunn Hearn, then spent a single semester at Chapel Hill before enlisting in the Army Air Forces in 1943. He served as a bomber gunner based in England and bailed out into the English Channel at 19 after his plane took heavy fire on a raid against German submarine bases in France. Discharged in December 1945, he signed with Boston for a $1,750 bonus, was moved to the mound at Class B Roanoke when the club ran short of pitchers, and climbed the farm system with a knuckleball he did not fully trust until his thirties. Paul Richards, who managed him at Seattle in 1950, kept reclaiming him: the White Sox in 1951, the Orioles in 1955, the Colt .45s in 1963. Brown pitched 14 big-league seasons for five clubs, finished 85-92 with a 3.81 ERA, twice led the American League in fewest walks per nine innings, and was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1991.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 230 | 0 | 16 | 104 | 77 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1964 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
- #23 Chris Zachary
- #38 Jim Wynn
- #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 #56 card?
It is card #56 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hal Brown of the Houston Colt .45's.
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.