1965 Topps #490 Earl Battey
About Earl Battey
Both Battey and the Twins slipped in 1964: a sixth-place, 79-win finish, and a catcher who reported to camp at 260 pounds, reinjured a knee and was knocked cold on May 10 crashing into a chair after a diving catch over a railing. He was hitting .220 at the end of June before rallying to .272 with 12 home runs in 131 games. Card #490 is his series-6 base issue.
Earl Battey was born January 5, 1935, in Los Angeles and signed with the Chicago White Sox out of Jordan High School in Watts. He reached the majors in 1955 and spent five years behind Sherm Lollar before an April 1960 trade sent him and Don Mincher to the Washington Senators for Roy Sievers. Battey caught for that franchise, renamed the Minnesota Twins in 1961, through 1967: three straight Gold Gloves from 1960 to 1962, All-Star selections in 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966, and a major league record for catchers with 15 baserunners picked off in 1962. He started all seven games of the 1965 World Series loss to Los Angeles and retired with 1,141 games, 969 hits, 104 home runs, 449 RBI and a .270 average. He worked a dozen years as a New York recreation specialist, earned an education degree from Bethune-Cookman University, and taught and coached in Ocala, Florida, where he died of cancer in 2003. The Twins elected him to their hall of fame in 2004.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 318 | 2 | 38 | 179 | 70 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 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: #24 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #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
- #108 Don Mincher
- #122 Bill Pleis
- #157 Zoilo Versalles
- #171 Jim Roland
- #180 Bob Allison
- #201 Twins 1965 Rookie Stars
- #216 Al Worthington
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #490 card?
It is card #490 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Earl Battey of the Minnesota Twins.
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.