1964 Topps #489 Julio Navarro
About Julio Navarro
Navarro opened 1964 in style, combining with Ken McBride on an Opening Day one-hitter at Washington with President Johnson on hand to throw out the first ball, and he carried a 1.93 ERA through five relief outings when the Angels traded him to Detroit for outfielder-pitcher Willie Smith on April 28. The change did not take right away. Ten rough outings left him 0-1 with a 10.22 ERA and bound for Triple-A Syracuse at the end of May. He was recalled in early August and pitched well enough to finish 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA in 26 games and 41 innings for the Tigers. Card 489, his first Topps card in a Detroit uniform, belongs to the sixth print series.
Julio Navarro Ventura, born January 9, 1934 in Vieques, Puerto Rico, is the only player from that small island ever to reach the major leagues. His family left when the Navy took over the Vieques cane fields, and he learned the game on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands alongside future big leaguers Joe Christopher and Elmo Plaskett. The Giants signed him in 1955, and he spent seven years in their system before the Angels bought his contract on September 2, 1962. He debuted the next day at Yankee Stadium, a 28-year-old rookie everyone believed was 26, having quietly shaved two years off his age. The 5-foot-11 right-hander worked almost entirely in relief over six big league seasons between 1962 and 1970 for the Angels, Tigers and Braves, throwing mostly sidearm with an occasional overhand delivery to fool hitters and mixing a sinker, slider, screwball and fastball. He finished 7-9 with a 3.65 ERA and 17 saves in 130 games. The rest of the career dwarfs that: twenty minor league seasons and 22 winters in the Puerto Rican league, tied for second in that league's history. He was inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, fathered big league pitcher Jaime Navarro, and died January 24, 2018.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 167 | 0 | 20 | 81 | 42 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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: #67 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #6 1963 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #8 1963 American League Batting Leaders
- #12 1963 American League R.B.I. Leaders
- #19 Don Wert
- #39 Hank Aguirre
- #58 Don Demeter
- #98 Bill Bruton
- #128 Mickey Lolich
- #143 Bubba Phillips
- #165 Jerry Lumpe
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- #197 Frank Lary
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #489 card?
It is card #489 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Julio Navarro of the Detroit Tigers.
Why is #489 harder to find?
It is a series 5-6 card. Cards from the fifth and sixth print series (#371-522) are a step tougher to find than #1-370; availability in 1964 runs in three tiers, not a cliff.
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.