1964 Topps #339 Walt Bond
About Walt Bond
Houston bought Bond from Cleveland on December 19, 1963, and this fourth-series card, an ordinary number, is his first Topps issue in a Houston uniform. Paul Richards handed him regular playing time for the first time in his career, the outfield through the first half and first base afterward. Bond answered with .254, 20 home runs, 16 doubles, seven triples and 85 RBIs in 148 games, leading the Colt .45's in runs, triples, homers and RBIs. Those 85 stood as the Houston club record until Jimmy Wynn passed them in 1967.
Walter Franklin Bond stood 6 feet 7 inches, batted left and threw right, and came out of Denmark, Tennessee, by way of Lane College and a job with the Kansas City Monarchs in the last days of the Negro leagues. Cleveland signed him before the 1957 season. He hit .299 across a long minor league career that included a .320 year at Triple-A Salt Lake City in 1962, the same season he was diagnosed with leukemia while serving as a private first class in the U.S. Army. Houston general manager Paul Richards knew about the illness, had the club doctor confirm it was in remission, and finally gave Bond the everyday job Cleveland never did: 20 home runs and 85 RBIs in 1964, the best of his six big league seasons. He played 365 major league games in all, for the Indians, the Colt .45's and Astros, and the Twins, batting .256 with 41 home runs and 179 RBIs. He died of leukemia in Houston on September 14, 1967, a month short of 30, and is buried at Houston National Cemetery.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · The Hardball Times · The Baseball Cube
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 280 | 5 | 40 | 146 | 57 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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:
- #23 Chris Zachary
- #38 Jim Wynn
- #56 Hal Brown
- #109 Rusty Staub
- #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
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #339 card?
It is card #339 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Walt Bond 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.