1965 Topps #332 Ted Abernathy
About Ted Abernathy
Abernathy's 1965 Topps card, #332 in the fourth series, catches him with the Chicago Cubs the year his career peaked. Sold to Chicago before the season, he led the major leagues with 84 relief appearances, a total that broke the single-season record, and posted a league-leading 31 saves with a 2.57 ERA over 136.1 innings. His performance earned him The Sporting News NL Fireman of the Year award, the first of two he would win.
Ted Abernathy was a submarine-style relief pitcher who spent 14 major league seasons, from 1955 to 1972, with seven clubs. Born in Stanley, North Carolina, he broke into the big leagues with the Washington Senators, but a serious arm injury in 1956 forced him to abandon a conventional delivery. After elbow surgery and years of rehab in the minors, he adopted an underhand submarine motion learned from a Senators teammate, and returned reinvented as a full-time relief specialist. Pitching for the Indians, Cubs, Braves, Reds, Cardinals and Royals, Abernathy became one of the game's most durable firemen, twice leading the National League in saves, in 1965 and 1967, and winning The Sporting News NL Fireman of the Year award both years. He set a then-record for games pitched in a season with 84 appearances in 1965. Over his career he compiled a 63-69 record, 148 saves and a 3.46 ERA in 1,147.2 innings across 681 games. He finished his playing days with the Royals in 1972 at age 39, closing out a career built on reinvention and workload.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 212 | 2 | 24 | 109 | 46 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 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: #481 Cleveland Indians
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- #128 Vic Davalillo
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- #166 Indians 1965 Rookie Stars
- #185 Max Alvis
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #332 card?
It is card #332 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ted Abernathy of the Cleveland Indians.
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.