1965 Topps #550 Mel Stottlemyre
About Mel Stottlemyre
This is his rookie card. #550 sits in the seventh and final series, a high number inside the short-print zone that reached candy counters late in 1965. While it was going out, Stottlemyre was closing a 20-9 season with a 2.63 ERA, pacing the American League with 18 complete games and 291 innings, and winning his 20th in his final start. He made his first All-Star team that July.
Mel Stottlemyre (1941-2019) spent his entire 11-year major-league career with the New York Yankees. Born in Hazleton, Missouri and raised in the farm town of Mabton, Washington, he was signed for no bonus out of Yakima Valley Junior College by Yankees scout Eddie Taylor in 1961, and he was still pitching for Triple-A Richmond when New York called him up in August 1964 to cover for the injured Whitey Ford. He went 9-3 the rest of the way, helped the club to its fifth straight American League pennant, and started three games against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, beating Bob Gibson in Game Two before losing the decisive Game Seven. An overhand sinkerballer who kept the ball at the knees, he became the ace of a Yankees team that fell into the second division for the first time since 1925. He won 20 games three times, was named to five All-Star squads, and threw 40 shutouts, the same career total as Sandy Koufax. Shoulder tendinitis dogged him from 1967 onward, and a torn rotator cuff ended his pitching at age 32 in 1974; the Yankees released him before the 1975 season. He retired 164-139 with a 2.97 ERA, then coached 23 seasons in the majors and won five World Series rings with the Mets and Yankees.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 961 | 4 | 68 | 329 | 226 | 151 | 83 | 100 | 0 |
| SGC | 143 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 26 | 32 | 25 | 2 |
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: #513 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees 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
- #13 Pedro Ramos
- #30 Jim Bouton
- #65 Tony Kubek
- #97 Pedro Gonzalez
- #115 Bobby Richardson
- #131 Johnny Keane
- #133 World Series Game #2 - Stottlemyre Wins
- #134 World Series Game #3 - Mantle's Clutch HR
- #137 World Series Game #6 - Bouton Wins Again
- #155 Roger Maris
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #550 card?
It is card #550 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mel Stottlemyre of the New York Yankees.
Is 1965 Topps #550 a rookie card?
Yes - #550 is the 1965 Topps rookie card of Mel Stottlemyre.
Is 1965 Topps #550 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.