1965 Topps #518 Ken Rowe
About Ken Rowe
Card 518 is another high-number card from the set's final series, issued the year after Rowe's rookie card and depicting him with the Baltimore Orioles - not a rookie issue. It reflects his strong 1964 season with the Spokane Indians, where he went 16-11 with a 1.77 ERA in relief, a performance that led the pennant-contending Orioles to purchase his contract that September and use him down the stretch, followed by six appearances early in 1965 before he returned to the minors for good as a player.
Kenneth Darrell Rowe, born December 31, 1933, in Ferndale, Michigan, was a right-handed relief pitcher whose playing and coaching career in professional baseball spanned six decades. He signed with the Detroit Tigers organization in 1953 and worked his way through five Detroit farm clubs before the Dodgers, still based in Brooklyn, drafted him in November 1955. After more minor-league seasons, he converted to relief pitching with the Spokane Indians in 1962, appearing in 70 games, and earned his first major-league trial with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963. He pitched briefly for the Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles between 1963 and 1965, finishing with a 2-1 record, a 3.57 ERA, one save and 19 strikeouts in 26 games. Far more significant was his coaching career: he managed and coached for years in the Orioles' minor-league system, served as Baltimore's major-league pitching coach in 1985 and 1986 under Joe Altobelli and Earl Weaver, and later worked in player development for the Yankees, Phillies and Cleveland organizations until his death on November 22, 2012, in Dallas, Georgia. He is not a Hall of Fame inductee.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 354 | 0 | 68 | 204 | 56 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 36 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 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: #572 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #15 Robin Roberts
- #33 Jackie Brandt
- #49 Orioles 1965 Rookie Stars
- #67 Harvey Haddix
- #94 Charlie Lau
- #113 Steve Barber
- #150 Brooks Robinson
- #169 Dave Vineyard
- #188 Sam Bowens
- #204 Russ Snyder
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #518 card?
It is card #518 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Rowe of the Baltimore Orioles.
Is 1965 Topps #518 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.
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.