1964 Topps #246 Manny Mota
About Manny Mota
Card #246 is Mota's first Topps issue as a Pirate, a third-series number carrying his 1963 Pittsburgh line: a .270 average with no home runs and 7 RBI in 59 games and 126 at-bats. Back in Pittsburgh the following spring, he leaned on Roberto Clemente, who worked with him before games on hitting, bunting, fielding and throwing and pressed his case with doubting beat writers: "He's always been a good hitter. He can hit big league pitching if given the chance." Mota's first big league home run came that May 26, off Chris Short of the Phillies.
Manny Mota (Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo) was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on February 18, 1938, and signed with the New York Giants on February 21, 1957, for a $400 bonus. Five minor league seasons carried him from Class D Michigan City to Triple-A Tacoma, and he debuted for San Francisco on April 16, 1962. Dealt to Houston that November, he never played a game for the Colt .45's; Pittsburgh acquired him days before the 1963 season, and he spent six years as a Pirates outfielder. A June 1969 move to the Los Angeles Dodgers began the long second half of a 20-year career that brought an All-Star selection in 1973, a .304 lifetime average, and 150 career pinch hits, a record that stood until 2001. He then coached the Dodgers from 1980 through 2013, 34 straight seasons and a club record, and was elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His father, Andres, gave him the nickname El Chory, roughly Shorty, and it is still the name people know him by at home.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 309 | 0 | 40 | 157 | 70 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 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: #373 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #20 Bob Friend
- #37 Smoky Burgess
- #62 Ted Savage
- #74 Pirates 1964 Rookie Stars
- #91 Bob Bailey
- #117 Earl Francis
- #141 Danny Murtaugh
- #163 Donn Clendenon
- #193 Jerry Lynch
- #209 Bob Allen
- #224 Tommie Sisk
- #266 Gene Freese
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #246 card?
It is card #246 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Manny Mota of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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.