1964 Topps #540 Luis Aparicio
About Luis Aparicio
A seventh-series high number, #540 is one of the last cards issued in the 1964 set. It reports Aparicio's first season in Baltimore, 1963, when he hit .250 with 150 hits and 40 stolen bases for a club built on power and pitching. That was an eighth straight American League stolen-base title, and his .983 fielding percentage at shortstop was a career high that set a new single-season record for the position.
Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, the son of a celebrated Venezuelan shortstop, and was signed by White Sox general manager Frank Lane on the recommendation of countryman Chico Carrasquel. Two seasons in the minor leagues followed, and in 1956 he took over Carrasquel's shortstop job in Chicago and won the American League Rookie of the Year, the first Latin American player so honored, after leading the league with 21 stolen bases. With second baseman Nellie Fox he formed one of the game's great double-play combinations, sparking the 1959 Go-Go White Sox to their first pennant in 40 years while finishing second to Fox in the MVP vote. He led the American League in stolen bases in each of his first nine seasons, two more in a row than any other player in either league has managed, and won nine Gold Gloves at shortstop. Traded to Baltimore before the 1963 season, he helped the Orioles win the 1966 World Series before returning to Chicago and finishing with the Boston Red Sox. Picked for ten All-Star teams, he retired in 1973 with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases and major-league fielding records for a shortstop. In 1984, on his sixth turn on the ballot, he became the first Venezuelan elected to the Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 444 | 0 | 14 | 134 | 99 | 96 | 42 | 58 | 1 |
| SGC | 77 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 1 |
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: #473 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #17 Willie Kirkland
- #22 Jerry Adair
- #45 Milt Pappas
- #63 Johnny Orsino
- #89 Boog Powell
- #126 Russ Snyder
- #145 Norm Siebern
- #161 Dave McNally
- #178 Hank Bauer
- #201 Orioles 1964 Rookie Stars
- #221 Bob Saverine
- #230 Brooks Robinson
- #239 Herm Starrette
- #263 Chuck Estrada
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #540 card?
It is card #540 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Luis Aparicio of the Baltimore Orioles.
Is 1964 Topps #540 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #523-587, distributed last. Scarcer than the rest of the set but only mildly so - the high premium runs roughly 55-60 percent, far milder than the 1952-62 highs.
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.