1965 Topps #29 Felix Mantilla
About Felix Mantilla
Card #29 sits in the opening series and marks Mantilla's only All-Star season. Manager Billy Herman had planned to bat him fifth to drive in runs, and he delivered career highs in games (150), at-bats (534), hits (147) and RBI (92), batting .275 with 18 home runs. He started 120 games at second base and 26 in the outfield, and those 92 RBI ranked fourth in the American League behind Rocky Colavito, Willie Horton and Tony Oliva. The All-Star Game start at second brought two hitless at-bats.
Felix Mantilla, called El Gato, the Cat, for his agility, was born July 29, 1934, in Isabela, Puerto Rico, and was playing organized ball there by age nine. He was on the Puerto Rican team that won the 1951 Amateur World Series, signed with the Boston Braves in 1952 for a $400 bonus, and in 1953 joined Hank Aaron and Horace Garner in integrating the Jacksonville Braves of the South Atlantic League, where the three shared a home in a segregated city and were booed for their color. He debuted with Milwaukee on June 21, 1956, and over eleven seasons played every position but pitcher and catcher. He won the 1957 World Series and returned to the Series in 1958. On May 26, 1959, he led off the thirteenth inning by reaching on Don Hoak's throwing error, ending Harvey Haddix's twelve perfect innings, then scored the winning run on Joe Adcock's drive. He finished at .261 with 89 home runs and 330 RBI, helped found the Felix Mantilla Little League in Milwaukee in 1972, and was inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame. He died January 10, 2025, at 90.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Baseball Almanac (3) · Baseball Almanac (4) · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 301 | 0 | 39 | 163 | 58 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 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
Team card: #403 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #42 Earl Wilson
- #55 Tony Conigliaro
- #74 Red Sox 1965 Rookie Stars
- #88 Jack Lamabe
- #111 Lee Thomas
- #142 Bill Monbouquette
- #147 Dennis Bennett
- #162 Russ Nixon
- #178 Dalton Jones
- #199 Bob Heffner
- #222 Bob Tillman
- #251 Billy Herman
- #272 Chuck Schilling
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #29 card?
It is card #29 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Felix Mantilla of the Boston Red Sox.
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.