1965 Topps #283 Fred Whitfield
About Fred Whitfield
Chuck Hinton, the man Cleveland got for Bob Chance the previous winter, opened 1965 at first base. In early May manager Birdie Tebbetts went hunting for more power, moved Hinton to second and later the outfield, and Whitfield got hot - 7-for-9 in a doubleheader at Boston's Fenway Park - and held the job the rest of the way. He credited a stiff back with keeping his too-quick bat from jumping at pitches. The result: .293, 26 home runs, 90 RBIs, ten of those homers off the Yankees in only 71 at-bats, and the first-base spot on The Sporting News American League all-star team. Card #283 is a fourth-series card.
Fred Dwight Whitfield (1938-2013) was a left-handed first baseman from Vandiver, Alabama, who played nine big-league seasons (1962-1970) for the Cardinals, Indians, Reds and Expos. Pittsburgh signed him in 1956 and sent him home from camp; Baltimore signed him that fall and released him the next spring, his shoulder ruined by a sandlot pitching stint. He taught himself to flip the ball with his wrist, and a Cardinals scout signed him on the strength of his bat in 1958. Joe Schultz, one of his managers in that farm system, hung the tag Wingy on the throwing motion and it stuck. Whitfield reached St. Louis in 1962, went to Cleveland that December, and after two seasons of platooning owned the Indians' first-base job from May 1965 on. He hit 26 home runs in 1965 and 27 in 1966, and no staff suffered more than the Yankees, who gave up 23 of his 108 career homers. He batted .253 with 356 RBIs, then went home to Alabama, working as a shipping clerk for 23 years and playing bluegrass and gospel guitar.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 220 | 1 | 30 | 107 | 53 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 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: #481 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #17 Johnny Romano
- #76 Sam McDowell
- #92 Dick Howser
- #96 Sonny Siebert
- #105 Chico Salmon
- #128 Vic Davalillo
- #145 Luis Tiant
- #166 Indians 1965 Rookie Stars
- #185 Max Alvis
- #235 Chuck Hinton
- #262 Bud Daley
- #301 Birdie Tebbetts
- #317 Don McMahon
- #332 Ted Abernathy
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #283 card?
It is card #283 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Fred Whitfield of the Cleveland Indians.
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.