1965 Topps #188 Sam Bowens
About Sam Bowens
1965 Topps #188 sits in the set's third print series and pictures Bowens with the Orioles a year removed from his big debut season. The follow-up year was rough: he dropped to 84 games and a .163 average with 7 home runs and 20 RBI as Baltimore trimmed his outfield time.
Sam Bowens was an outfielder from Wilmington, North Carolina who reached the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in September 1963. He had his best season in 1964, playing 139 games and hitting .263 with 22 home runs and 71 RBI, numbers that made him a regular in the Baltimore outfield. His production fell off in the years that followed as he battled to match that rookie-year power, and his playing time shrank through 1965, 1966 and 1967. Baltimore let him go, and he finished his career with the Washington Senators in 1968 and 1969. Over seven big-league seasons Bowens appeared in 479 games, batting .223 with 45 home runs, 143 RBI and 25 stolen bases. He was never selected to an All-Star team, won no major awards, and did not appear in a postseason game. Bowens died in his hometown of Wilmington in 2003, four decades after his rookie breakthrough with the Orioles.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 287 | 11 | 64 | 137 | 44 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 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: #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
- #204 Russ Snyder
- #231 Jerry Adair
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #188 card?
It is card #188 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sam Bowens of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.