1965 Topps #528 George Altman
About George Altman
Card 528 in the 1965 Topps set is a seventh-series high number from the tail end of the run, inside the set's short-print zone. Altman was back in Chicago by then, reacquired from the Mets on January 15, 1965 for Billy Cowan, but he returned as a bench bat rather than a starter: 90 games, just 196 at-bats, a .235 average and four home runs, with 46 of his appearances coming as a pinch-hitter and nearly all of his glove work in left field.
George Lee Altman was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on March 20, 1933, and worked tobacco fields as a youth before basketball carried him to Tennessee A&I State University in Nashville, a school that had no baseball team until his junior year. He turned pro with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1955 and signed with the Chicago Cubs that August on Buck O'Neil's recommendation. A 6-foot-4 left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, Altman reached the majors in 1959 after two minor league seasons split around Army service. Over nine big league years with the Cubs, Cardinals and Mets he batted .269 with 101 home runs and 403 runs batted in over 991 games, played all three outfield spots and first base, and was a National League All-Star in both 1961 and 1962. Nagging injuries cut the peak short. At 35 he went to Japan, where he spent eight seasons with the Tokyo/Lotte Orions and the Hanshin Tigers, hit 205 home runs and batted .309 before finishing at 42. He later traded commodities at the Chicago Board of Trade and settled in O'Fallon, Missouri, where he died on November 24, 2025, at 92.
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 | 280 | 6 | 35 | 145 | 61 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 19 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1965 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #91 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #4 National League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #6 National League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #14 Len Gabrielson
- #27 Dick Bertell
- #34 Cal Koonce
- #64 Lou Burdette
- #110 Ron Santo
- #149 Wayne Schurr
- #161 Frank Baumann
- #165 Dick Ellsworth
- #186 Billy Cowan
- #202 Leo Burke
- #220 Billy Williams
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #528 card?
It is card #528 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing George Altman of the Chicago Cubs.
Is 1965 Topps #528 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last series, #507-598. Unlike most 1960s Topps sets the 1965 highs are not scarce as a run - the premium sits on the short-printed cards inside #523-598. It is also a short-print zone card. Forty-four of the 76 cards in #523-598 were short-printed; #507-522 was not. The zone is stated as a range because the catalogs disagree on exactly which cards, so no single card is marked.
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.