1964 Topps #196 Jim Gentile
About Jim Gentile
Card #196 is a second-series card, and the first Topps issue to show Gentile in a Kansas City uniform. Baltimore sent him west on November 27, 1963, adding $25,000 to the package to bring back first baseman Norm Siebern; the trade press read it as Siebern's consistency and hustle for Gentile's defense, power and color. He had seen it coming. His 1963 numbers, .248 with 24 home runs and 72 RBI in 145 games, were his thinnest as an Orioles regular, and he said afterward that he expected to be dealt.
James Edward Gentile, a left-handed-hitting first baseman born June 3, 1934 in San Francisco, played nine major league seasons between 1957 and 1966 for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Athletics, Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians. Brooklyn signed him in 1952 out of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, turned the high school pitcher into a first baseman, then left him eight years in the minors behind All-Star Gil Hodges. Roy Campanella had already named him Diamond Jim. The Dodgers finally dealt him to Baltimore on October 19, 1959, and at 26 he took the job for keeps: both All-Star teams in 1960, 1961 and 1962, and a 1961 line of .302 with 46 home runs and 141 RBI, five of those homers grand slams, an American League record that held until 1987. He finished third in that MVP vote behind Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Gentile retired at .260 with 179 home runs and 549 RBI, and the Orioles elected him to their club Hall of Fame in 1989, a team honor rather than Cooperstown.
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 | 214 | 5 | 25 | 104 | 40 | 16 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 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: #151 K. C. Athletics
More Kansas City Athletics cards:
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- #42 Moe Drabowsky
- #75 Wayne Causey
- #108 John Wyatt
- #124 Orlando Pena
- #174 Doc Edwards
- #212 Pete Lovrich
- #229 Charley Lau
- #244 Tony La Russa
- #276 Jose Tartabull
- #302 Dan Pfister
- #320 Rocky Colavito
- #334 Lew Krausse
- #348 Ed Lopat
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #196 card?
It is card #196 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Gentile of the Kansas City Athletics.
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.