1964 Topps #30 Ron Perranoski


About Ron Perranoski
Number 30 is an early first-series card, a plain low number. The year it stands for was a rough one. A pulled left thigh muscle, suffered covering first base against Milwaukee on April 25, cost him a week and then his rhythm, and he finished 5-7 with a 3.09 ERA and 14 saves over 125 1/3 innings while the Dodgers sank to 80-82 and a tie for sixth. He worked 72 games, second even on his own staff to Bob Miller, whose 74 led the league. That June a thousand people from Fair Lawn turned out to honor him before a game at Shea Stadium.
Ron Perranoski was a left-handed relief pitcher who spent 13 major league seasons, from 1961 through 1973, mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, with shorter stops in Detroit and California. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, on April 1, 1936, and raised in nearby Fair Lawn, he starred at Michigan State before signing with the Chicago Cubs, and he reached the majors only after a 1960 trade sent him to the Dodgers. Working almost entirely out of the bullpen with a sinking fastball and a sharp curve, he led or shared the National League lead in appearances three times for Los Angeles and won World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1965. Traded to Minnesota after the 1967 season, he led the American League in saves in 1969 and in 1970 and was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year both years. He finished with 79 wins, 178 saves and a 2.79 ERA in 737 games, and he was never chosen for an All-Star team. He later spent 14 seasons as the Dodgers' pitching coach, adding championship rings in 1981 and 1988. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 and died in 2020.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 284 | 1 | 20 | 113 | 86 | 34 | 14 | 15 | 1 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 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: #531 L. A. Dodgers
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #3 1963 National League Pitching Leaders
- #5 1963 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #14 Dodgers 1964 Rookie Stars
- #51 Pete Richert
- #68 Willie Davis
- #88 John Roseboro
- #101 Walt Alston
- #120 Don Drysdale
- #136 World Series Game #1 - Koufax Strikes Out 15
- #137 World Series Game #2 - Davis Sparks Rally
- #138 World Series Game #3 - L.A. Takes 3rd Straight
- #139 World Series Game #4 - Sealing Yanks' Doom
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #30 card?
It is card #30 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ron Perranoski of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.