1964 Topps #545 Max Alvis
About Max Alvis
Card #545 sits in the seventh and final print series of the 1964 set, a high number. The back carries the breakout he had just finished, the .274 average, 22 home runs and 67 RBI that put him 17th in the Most Valuable Player voting. The high numbers reached the shops late in the summer, by which time a severe headache on a flight out of Minnesota in late June had ended with Alvis diagnosed with spinal meningitis in a Boston hospital. He missed six weeks and still hit 18 home runs in 107 games.
Roy Maxwell Alvis, born February 2, 1938 in Jasper, Texas, was a dual-sport star at the University of Texas, a halfback and linebacker under Darrell Royal who also led the Southwest Conference in hitting at .403. Cleveland signed him in 1958, and after four minor league seasons he debuted on September 11, 1962. He took the Indians' third-base job out of spring training in 1963 and set career highs with a .274 average, 22 home runs, 67 RBI, 81 runs, 165 hits and 32 doubles, finishing 17th in the Most Valuable Player voting and taking the Cleveland writers' Man of the Year award. In late June 1964 he was hospitalized with spinal meningitis, diagnosed on a flight from Minnesota to Boston; he was back on the field in six weeks but, by his own account and his teammates', never regained the same strength or stamina. He was an All-Star in 1965 and 1967, led American League third basemen in putouts four times, and remained Cleveland's regular at the hot corner through 1968. A knee injury and surgery cut his 1969 short, and he closed out at Milwaukee in 1970, finishing nine seasons at .247 with 111 home runs, 421 runs and 373 RBI. Back home in Jasper he rose from loan officer to president of the First National Bank.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 256 | 1 | 36 | 135 | 55 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 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: #172 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #64 Ted Abernathy
- #77 Jerry Walker
- #105 Woody Held
- #122 Don McMahon
- #133 Jim Grant
- #146 Indians 1964 Rookie Stars
- #184 Al Luplow
- #199 Joe Azcue
- #216 Mike de la Hoz
- #234 Gary Bell
- #253 Wally Post
- #301 Larry Brown
- #317 Al Smith
- #338 Jack Kralick
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #545 card?
It is card #545 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Max Alvis of the Cleveland Indians.
Is 1964 Topps #545 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.