1965 Topps #141 Charlie James
About Charlie James
James's 1965 Topps card, #141, is a second-series card, and it is the only one of his Topps cards in this stretch that lists him with the Cincinnati Reds instead of St. Louis. The Reds had acquired him on December 14, 1964, sending pitcher Bob Purkey to St. Louis for James and pitcher Roger Craig. He liked Crosley Field's short left field, but Tommy Harper held the job and Cincinnati came out of the gate leading the league, so manager Dick Sisler left the lineup alone. James started only six games all season and hit .205 with eight hits in 39 at-bats over 26 games, then retired on April 14, 1966, rather than accept an option to Triple-A Buffalo.
Charles Wesley James was born December 22, 1937, in St. Louis, grew up in the suburb of Rock Hill, and graduated from Webster Groves High School. A football scholarship took him to the University of Missouri, where he was a halfback letterman in 1956 and 1957 and set a Mizzou record for pass receptions by a backfield player that stood 36 years. On January 6, 1958, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine signed him for a reported $15,000 bonus, costing him his senior college baseball season; James enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis to finish an electrical engineering degree. He was Texas League Rookie of the Year at Double-A Houston in 1958 and an International League All-Star at Triple-A Rochester in 1959, and debuted for St. Louis on August 2, 1960. A right-handed outfielder listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, he batted .255 with 358 hits, 29 home runs and 172 runs batted in over 510 games and six seasons, and won a World Series ring in 1964. St. Louis writers dubbed him Chop-Down Charley for chopping at pitches to make contact rather than waiting on walks; he drew only 48 in his career. He later served as president of Central Electric Company in Fulton, Missouri, retiring in 1998.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 289 | 3 | 52 | 160 | 52 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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: #316 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #18 Bill McCool
- #47 Tommy Harper
- #60 Jim O'Toole
- #75 Deron Johnson
- #102 Steve Boros
- #120 Frank Robinson
- #158 Dick Sisler
- #174 Joe Jay
- #192 Jim Coker
- #207 Pete Rose
- #221 John Tsitouris
- #243 Reds 1965 Rookie Stars
- #263 Marty Keough
- #289 Gordy Coleman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #141 card?
It is card #141 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Charlie James of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.