1965 Topps #88 Jack Lamabe
About Jack Lamabe
Card #88, a series-1 issue, is Lamabe's last Topps card in a Boston uniform, and it fronts the worst season of his career. Under manager Billy Herman he was hit hard from the start, his ERA reaching 12.51 by the end of May, and his final Red Sox appearance came on June 23 at 0-3 with an 8.17 mark. Boston sold his contract to the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs on July 4; there he rebuilt himself at 10-3 with a 1.95 ERA and made the International League All-Star team.
John Alexander Lamabe was a right-handed pitcher whose first professional contract, with the Philadelphia Phillies, was voided by Commissioner Ford Frick in October 1956 under the rule protecting college players. About a dozen clubs bid for him, and he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 27, 1957. He reached the majors on April 17, 1962, and over seven seasons pitched for the Pirates, Red Sox, Astros, White Sox, Mets, Cardinals and Cubs, working mostly in relief and finishing 33-41 with a 4.24 ERA, 434 strikeouts and three shutouts in 285 games. Boston's baseball writers voted him their club's Unsung Hero, and his florid complexion earned him the nickname "Tomatoes" during his Red Sox years. He won a championship ring with the 1967 Cardinals. Afterward he coached college baseball at Jacksonville University and became LSU's first full-time head coach, and he spent years as a minor league pitching instructor in the Expos and Padres systems. He died in Baton Rouge in 2007, and Jacksonville put him in its athletic hall of fame four years later.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 253 | 4 | 43 | 141 | 35 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 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: #403 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #29 Felix Mantilla
- #42 Earl Wilson
- #55 Tony Conigliaro
- #74 Red Sox 1965 Rookie Stars
- #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 #88 card?
It is card #88 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jack Lamabe 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.