1965 Topps #12 National League 1964 Strikeout Leaders - Bob Veale / Bob Gibson / Don Drysdale
On this card: Bob Veale, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale
About this card
Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve cards listing the 1964 leaders in six categories - batting average, home runs, runs batted in, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts - the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair.
The story on this card
Card 12 in the 1965 Topps set is a National League Strikeout Leaders board, capturing the top three punch-out arms from the 1964 season. Bob Veale of the Pittsburgh Pirates topped the league with 250 strikeouts, going 18-12 with a 2.74 ERA, edging Bob Gibson with a late relief stint on the season's final day. Gibson, of the St. Louis Cardinals, finished second with 245 strikeouts and a 19-12 record, 3.01 ERA, on a Cardinals staff that went on to win the World Series that October. Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounded out the trio with 237 strikeouts and an 18-16 record, his sidearm fastball and brushback reputation already well established. Gibson and Drysdale would both reach the Hall of Fame; Veale, a two-time All-Star, pushed his own strikeout total even higher the next season.
Bob Veale was a towering, hard-throwing left-hander who terrorized National League hitters for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960s, leading the league in strikeouts in 1964, making two All-Star teams, and helping Pittsburgh win the 1971 World Series. Bob Gibson pitched all seventeen of his seasons for the Cardinals, a two-time Cy Young winner and two-time World Series Most Valuable Player whose 1.12 earned run average in 1968 still measures pitching dominance. Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' intimidating right-hander for 14 seasons, the 1962 Cy Young winner and a three-time World Series champion who in 1968 ran off six straight shutouts and a record 58 2/3 scoreless innings.
Sources: Wikipedia (Bob Veale) · Wikipedia (Bob Gibson) · Wikipedia (Don Drysdale) · SABR BioProject (Bob Veale) · SABR BioProject (Bob Gibson) · SABR BioProject (Don Drysdale) · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac (Bob Veale) · Baseball Almanac (Bob Gibson) · Baseball Almanac (Don Drysdale)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 694 | 4 | 59 | 249 | 149 | 87 | 67 | 77 | 2 |
| SGC | 73 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 19 | 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 cards: #209 Pittsburgh Pirates, #57 St. Louis Cardinals, #126 Los Angeles Dodgers
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #2 National League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #25 Al McBean
- #54 Joe Gibbon
- #69 Bill Virdon
- #95 Bill Mazeroski
- #121 Gene Alley
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #6 National League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #28 Barney Schultz
- #43 Mike Shannon
- #78 Dal Maxvill
- #100 Ken Boyer
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #8 National League 1964 ERA Leaders
- #40 Frank Howard
- #59 Nate Oliver
- #77 Doug Camilli
- #98 Bob Miller
- #112 Derrell Griffith
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #12 card?
It is card #12 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Veale, Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale. Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve cards listing the 1964 leaders in six categories - batting average, home runs, runs batted in, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts - the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair.
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.