1964 Topps #305 Jack Lamabe
About Jack Lamabe
Card #305 is a series-4 issue from the year Boston's baseball writers named him their Unsung Hero at their January 1964 dinner, recognition for a 1963 spent in the long shadow of relief ace Dick Radatz. Manager Johnny Pesky then handed him a rotation spot, and Lamabe won his first three decisions before the bottom fell out. He made 25 starts among 39 appearances and finished 9-13 with a 5.89 ERA over 177 innings.
John Alexander Lamabe was a right-handed pitcher whose first professional contract, with the Philadelphia Phillies, was voided by Commissioner Ford Frick in October 1956 under the rule protecting college players. About a dozen clubs bid for him, and he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 27, 1957. He reached the majors on April 17, 1962, and over seven seasons pitched for the Pirates, Red Sox, Astros, White Sox, Mets, Cardinals and Cubs, working mostly in relief and finishing 33-41 with a 4.24 ERA, 434 strikeouts and three shutouts in 285 games. Boston's baseball writers voted him their club's Unsung Hero, and his florid complexion earned him the nickname "Tomatoes" during his Red Sox years. He won a championship ring with the 1967 Cardinals. Afterward he coached college baseball at Jacksonville University and became LSU's first full-time head coach, and he spent years as a minor league pitching instructor in the Expos and Padres systems. He died in Baton Rouge in 2007, and Jacksonville put him in its athletic hall of fame four years later.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 221 | 5 | 20 | 110 | 60 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #579 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #8 1963 American League Batting Leaders
- #10 1963 American League Home Run Leaders
- #12 1963 American League R.B.I. Leaders
- #25 Bill Monbouquette
- #60 Frank Malzone
- #79 Bob Heffner
- #93 Gary Geiger
- #112 Bob Tillman
- #153 Dick Williams
- #170 Dick Radatz
- #182 Sox Sockers
- #186 Roman Mejias
- #210 Carl Yastrzemski
- #228 Felix Mantilla
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #305 card?
It is card #305 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jack Lamabe of the Boston Red 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.