1965 Topps #505 Ray Culp
About Ray Culp
Card #505, a sixth-series number, follows the elbow trouble that wrecked Culp's second season. He made 19 starts in 1964, finished 8-7 with a 4.13 ERA and three complete games, and did not start again after August 15, though he had thrown a one-hitter against the Cubs on June 23. Manager Gene Mauch said he did not want the ball; Culp denied it, and catcher Clay Dalrymple thought Mauch simply held a grudge.
Ray Culp, a right-handed pitcher born August 6, 1941, in Elgin, Texas, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies out of Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin for a $100,000 bonus in 1959, then spent four uneven minor-league seasons before sticking in the majors. He debuted on April 10, 1963, and was named The Sporting News' National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year that season, going 14-11 with a 2.97 ERA, 176 strikeouts, five shutouts and an All-Star selection. Elbow trouble knocked him back the following year, and after a bullpen-heavy 1966 he demanded a trade; Philadelphia sent him to the Chicago Cubs that December for Dick Ellsworth, and Chicago dealt him to the Boston Red Sox a year later. Armed with a palmball Roger Craig had shown him back in Philadelphia, he became the Red Sox ace, winning between 14 and 17 games in each of his first four seasons there and making a second All-Star team in 1969. Shoulder surgery and arm trouble ended his career in 1973 at 122-101 with a 3.58 ERA and 1,411 strikeouts over 11 seasons; he went home to Austin and built a real-estate business.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 294 | 5 | 46 | 147 | 64 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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: #338 Philadelphia Phillies
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- #4 National League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #20 Jim Bunning
- #36 Bobby Wine
- #52 Ed Roebuck
- #72 Tony Gonzalez
- #107 Phillies 1965 Rookie Stars
- #123 Frank Thomas
- #163 John Briggs
- #184 John Boozer
- #203 Dallas Green
- #225 Bo Belinsky
- #248 Gus Triandos
- #280 Dick Stuart
- #296 Tony Taylor
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #505 card?
It is card #505 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Culp of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.