1965 Topps #186 Billy Cowan
About Billy Cowan
That winter the Cubs traded Cowan to the Mets for outfielder George Altman, and 1965 became a season split between two organizations, New York and Milwaukee, as he moved between clubs during the year. His playing time and production both dropped sharply, and he spent most of his innings back in the outfield with a handful of appearances at second base. Card #186, from the set's third series, still shows him with the Chicago Cubs, reflecting his most recent full season before the trade rather than his new mid-year homes.
Billy Rolland Cowan was an outfielder from Calhoun City, Mississippi, who grew up in Bakersfield, California, and starred at East Bakersfield High School before attending the University of Utah. He signed with the Cubs organization in 1961 and tore through the minors, hitting 35 home runs across two levels in 1962 and following it with a 1963 Pacific Coast League MVP season in which he led the circuit with 120 RBI. Cowan reached Chicago that September and became the Cubs' starting center fielder in 1964, but a trade that winter sent him to the Mets for outfielder George Altman and opened a well-traveled second act. Over eight big-league seasons he also wore the uniforms of the Braves, Phillies, Yankees and Angels, settling in as a right-handed-hitting utility outfielder, occasional infielder and pinch hitter who spent two full seasons back in the minors along the way. He found his most consistent big-league form off the bench in California before retiring in 1972, finishing with 493 games, 281 hits and a .236 career average.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 216 | 2 | 35 | 107 | 47 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 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. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
Team card: #91 Chicago Cubs
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- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #14 Len Gabrielson
- #27 Dick Bertell
- #34 Cal Koonce
- #64 Lou Burdette
- #110 Ron Santo
- #149 Wayne Schurr
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- #220 Billy Williams
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #186 card?
It is card #186 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Cowan of the Chicago Cubs.
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.