1965 Topps #564 Mel Nelson
About Mel Nelson
Number 564 is a true high number from the seventh series, inside the set's short-print zone. The back nods at where he began, noting the former outfielder who batted .296 in 1955. For once the picture is current: Nelson made Sam Mele's staff out of spring training and stayed all season, the only full major league year he ever had. He worked 28 games, three of them starts, and 54 2/3 innings, finishing 0-4 with three saves and a 4.12 ERA. Johnny Sain, his pitching coach, told him not to change how he pitched, only to improve. When Minnesota reached the World Series, Nelson was one of four Twins who never got into a game.
Melvin Frederick Nelson (May 30, 1936 - November 26, 2021) was born in San Diego, grew up in San Bernardino, and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954 as a right-handed-hitting outfielder; the move to the mound, where he threw left-handed, came later. He reached St. Louis as a September call-up in 1960 and struck out Maury Wills and Charlie Neal in his first relief outing against the Dodgers. A brief Army stint and a short run at Atlanta preceded the Cardinals selling his contract to the Los Angeles Angels for $25,000 in October 1962. He later joined the Minnesota Twins organization and spent all of 1965 with the pennant winners, though he never got into that World Series. Back in the minors afterward, he signed a free-agent deal with St. Louis in 1968, threw the only complete game of his career against Atlanta, and worked a scoreless ninth inning in Game Six of the 1968 World Series, a 13-1 Detroit win. Six big league seasons with the Cardinals, Angels and Twins left him 4-10 with a 4.40 ERA in 93 games. He then scouted for eight organizations between 1973 and 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 327 | 2 | 40 | 180 | 71 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 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: #24 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #11 American League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #39 Gerry Arrigo
- #62 Jim Kaat
- #90 Rich Rollins
- #108 Don Mincher
- #122 Bill Pleis
- #157 Zoilo Versalles
- #171 Jim Roland
- #180 Bob Allison
- #201 Twins 1965 Rookie Stars
- #216 Al Worthington
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #564 card?
It is card #564 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mel Nelson of the Minnesota Twins.
Is 1965 Topps #564 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.