1964 Topps #13 Hoyt Wilhelm
About Hoyt Wilhelm
Card #13 sits early in the 1964 set -- a first-series number -- and it is Wilhelm's first Topps issue in a White Sox uniform. Chicago was at the front end of six of the best sustained relief seasons anyone has put together, and the first came in 1963: a 2.64 ERA, 21 saves and a 5-8 record in 55 games with three starts, 136 innings and 111 strikeouts. Manager Al Lopez said early that year that the knuckleballer had improved his staff by 40 percent, calling him worth more than a 20-game winner. It helped that 1963 brought a bigger strike zone, a gift to a pitcher who aimed down the middle and trusted the ball to move.
Hoyt Wilhelm rode a knuckleball he taught himself as a North Carolina teenager to one of baseball's strangest careers. Born in Huntersville on July 26, 1922 -- a year earlier than the date his cards carried -- he was one of eleven children of tenant farmers. He served in the Army, was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart, then pitched the rest of his life with a fragment lodged in his back; his rise to staff sergeant left him the nickname "Old Sarge." He did not reach the majors until age 29, debuting for the New York Giants in April 1952, and homered in his first at-bat, the only home run he ever hit. Working entirely in relief, he won the National League ERA title as a rookie at 2.43, going 15-3, then took a second crown as a Baltimore starter in 1959 at 2.19 and no-hit the Yankees 1-0 on September 20, 1958. He pitched for nine franchises, tying Satchel Paige and Goose Gossage for the most by a Hall of Fame pitcher, and was the first to reach 200 saves and 1,000 games. Twenty-one seasons left him 143-122 with a 2.52 ERA, 228 saves and a record 124 relief wins; in 1985 he became the first reliever elected to Cooperstown.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 492 | 0 | 13 | 147 | 149 | 83 | 43 | 57 | 0 |
| SGC | 74 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 9 | 2 |
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: #496 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #2 1963 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #31 Dave Nicholson
- #66 Eddie Fisher
- #81 All-Star Vets
- #85 Pete Ward
- #107 White Sox 1964 Rookie Stars
- #130 Gary Peters
- #148 J.C. Martin
- #168 Al Weis
- #195 Floyd Robinson
- #215 Ray Herbert
- #232 Al Lopez
- #247 Dave DeBusschere
- #264 Jim Landis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #13 card?
It is card #13 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Hoyt Wilhelm of the Chicago White Sox.
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.