1965 Topps #48 Claude Raymond
Pennant graphic reads a bare HOUSTON with no nickname, transition art from the club's change of name to the Astros.
About Claude Raymond
Card #48, from series 1, still shows Raymond in a Colt .45s cap, though the Houston club was renamed the Astros for the 1965 season. Its pennant graphic reads a bare HOUSTON with no nickname at all, as do five other cards in the set. The season behind the card was 1964: 5-5 with a 2.82 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 38 games, all in relief and without a single save.
Claude Raymond, the Quebec right-hander known as Frenchy, signed with the Milwaukee Braves organization in 1955 before the White Sox took him in the December 1958 Rule 5 draft. He debuted April 15, 1959, was returned to Milwaukee that May, and pitched 12 major-league seasons (1959, 1961-1971) as a relief specialist for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, Houston and the Montreal Expos, finishing 46-53 with a 3.66 ERA, 497 strikeouts and more than 80 saves in 449 games. At midseason in 1966 he led both leagues with a 1.35 ERA and was named to the National League All-Star team, a first for a Quebec-born player. Sold to the Expos in August 1969, he became the club's first Quebecer and pitched through 1971 despite arthritis in his pitching hand and an ankle infection. He was Montreal's French-language broadcaster from 1972 to 2001 and a roving coach from 2002 to 2004, entered the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 450 | 7 | 89 | 250 | 70 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 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. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
More Houston Astros cards:
- #16 Houston 1965 Rookie Stars
- #31 Mike White
- #80 Turk Farrell
- #109 Walt Bond
- #164 Al Spangler
- #175 Bob Aspromonte
- #179 Hal Woodeshick
- #212 Ron Brand
- #240 Bob Bruce
- #257 Jim Wynn
- #274 Lum Harris
- #292 Larry Yellen
- #321 Rusty Staub
- #359 Ken Johnson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #48 card?
It is card #48 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Claude Raymond of the Houston Astros.
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.