1964 Topps #118 John Blanchard
About John Blanchard
1964 Topps #118 is a second-series card, issued the spring Yogi Berra took over as manager and promised Blanchard more work behind the plate. Berra kept his word, catching him more than he played him in the outfield and even using him at first base, but the playing time went the other way: his at-bats fell from 218 to 161 across 77 games. Blanchard made them count, lifting his average to .255 with seven home runs and 28 runs batted in. The Yankees went 22-6 in September to take the pennant from Chicago on the next-to-last day, then lost a seven-game World Series to St. Louis, with Blanchard one for four.
John Edwin Blanchard, born February 26, 1933, in Minneapolis, was a left-handed-hitting catcher and outfielder who spent nearly all of his major league career with the New York Yankees. Signed by New York in 1951 after a summer of semipro ball in Carroll, Iowa, he was turned into a catcher in the low minors at Bill Dickey's suggestion, lost two seasons to the U.S. Army, and debuted on September 25, 1955. Blocked by Yogi Berra and Elston Howard, he did not return to stay until 1959, then became the best-known reserve in the game, riding five straight Yankees pennants from 1960 through 1964 to a .345 average in 15 World Series games and a major league record ten World Series pinch-hit at-bats. He was catching when Bill Mazeroski's home run off Ralph Terry ended the 1960 Series. Blanchard finished with 516 games, 67 home runs and a .239 average, later worked as a color commentator on the first live game ESPN televised, and died in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, on March 25, 2009.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 271 | 0 | 13 | 119 | 74 | 38 | 9 | 14 | 4 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 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: #433 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees cards:
- #4 1963 American League Pitching Leaders
- #21 Yogi Berra
- #36 Hal Reniff
- #50 Mickey Mantle
- #69 Clete Boyer
- #86 Al Downing
- #100 Elston Howard
- #139 World Series Game #4 - Sealing Yanks' Doom
- #164 Bud Daley
- #190 Bobby Richardson
- #206 Steve Hamilton
- #219 Young Aces
- #225 Roger Maris
- #259 Harry Bright
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #118 card?
It is card #118 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Blanchard of the New York Yankees.
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.