1964 Topps #109 Rusty Staub
About Rusty Staub
A first-series Colt .45s card of a sophomore who was about to hit the wall. Playing first base against St. Louis on June 23, Staub dropped two throws in the seventh inning that let in the winning run, and by July 3 he was down to .202 with 4 home runs and 27 RBIs. Houston optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League, where 71 games brought a .314 average, 20 home runs, 45 RBIs and, more to the point, his confidence back. Recalled in mid-September, he doubled his season home run total to eight across his last 16 games and batted .271 down the stretch, ending the year at .216 in 89 games.
Daniel Joseph Staub was born in New Orleans on April 1, 1944; a hospital nurse nicknamed him Rusty for the red fuzz on his head, and it stuck for life. A star at Jesuit High School, he signed with the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1961 for a bonus reported at $100,000 and reached the majors at 19. A left-handed hitter with a patient eye, he grew into a six-time All-Star and one of the game's steadiest run producers, closing 23 seasons with 2,716 hits, 499 doubles, 292 home runs and 1,466 RBIs. Traded to Montreal for the Expos' 1969 debut, he became the club's first star, took French lessons for its fans, and in 1993 was the first Expo to have his number retired. He later played for the Mets, Tigers and Rangers, retiring as the only man with 500 hits for four different franchises. Off the field he ran two Manhattan restaurants and founded funds for the families of New York police and firefighters and for city food pantries. Inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, he died in 2018 at 73.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 616 | 3 | 19 | 133 | 162 | 131 | 79 | 89 | 0 |
| SGC | 93 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 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
More Houston Colt .45's cards:
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- #38 Jim Wynn
- #56 Hal Brown
- #121 Pete Runnels
- #142 John Bateman
- #158 Ken Johnson
- #179 Carl Warwick
- #205 Nellie Fox
- #226 Colts 1964 Rookie Stars
- #241 Jim Owens
- #256 Johnny Weekly
- #282 Bob Bruce
- #298 Harry Craft
- #321 Bob Lillis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #109 card?
It is card #109 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rusty Staub of the Houston Colt .45's.
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.