1965 Topps #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders - Tony Oliva / Brooks Robinson / Elston Howard
On this card: Tony Oliva, Brooks Robinson, Elston Howard
About this card
Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve cards listing the 1964 leaders in six categories - batting average, home runs, runs batted in, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts - the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair.
The story on this card
Card 1 opens the 1965 Topps set with the American League batting leaders board from 1964, the first card of the print series. Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins topped the league at .323 in his Rookie of the Year season, Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles was right behind at .317 in the year he was named AL MVP, and Elston Howard of the New York Yankees was third at .313, just ten points off the batting crown. Oliva led the AL in hits, doubles and runs as a rookie for a Twins club that finished well down the standings. Robinson drove in a league-best 118 runs as Baltimore chased the pennant into September, and Howard won his second straight Gold Glove behind the plate for a Yankees team that went on to the World Series.
Tony Oliva - Minnesota's smooth-swinging Cuban right fielder, the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year and a three-time batting champion who made the All-Star team in each of his first eight full seasons before knee injuries took over; Cooperstown called in December 2021. Brooks Robinson manned third base for the Baltimore Orioles across 23 seasons, redefining the position with 16 straight Gold Gloves, the 1964 AL MVP award, and the show-stopping glovework that made him MVP of the 1970 World Series. Elston Howard broke the color line for the New York Yankees in 1955, grew into a Gold Glove catcher, and in 1963 became the first Black player named Most Valuable Player in the American League.
Sources: Wikipedia (Tony Oliva) · Wikipedia (Brooks Robinson) · Wikipedia (Elston Howard) · SABR BioProject (Brooks Robinson) · SABR BioProject (Elston Howard) · Baseball Almanac (Brooks Robinson) · Baseball Almanac (Elston Howard)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,049 | 4 | 59 | 276 | 267 | 182 | 121 | 136 | 4 |
| SGC | 158 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 32 | 36 | 31 | 39 | 2 |
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. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
Team cards: #24 Minnesota Twins, #572 Baltimore Orioles, #513 New York Yankees
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #11 American League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #39 Gerry Arrigo
- #62 Jim Kaat
- #90 Rich Rollins
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #15 Robin Roberts
- #33 Jackie Brandt
- #49 Orioles 1965 Rookie Stars
More New York Yankees cards:
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #11 American League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Pedro Ramos
- #30 Jim Bouton
- #65 Tony Kubek
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #1 card?
It is card #1 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Oliva, Brooks Robinson and Elston Howard. Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve cards listing the 1964 leaders in six categories - batting average, home runs, runs batted in, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts - the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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.