1965 Topps #491 Tracy Stallard
About Tracy Stallard
Card 491 in the sixth series is the first to show Stallard in St. Louis red, the Cardinals having landed him on December 7, 1964, sending Johnny Lewis and Gordie Richardson to the Mets to get him. He worked the first three games in relief, moved into the rotation on April 24, and ran out to 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA, including a 3-0 May. He closed just as well, a 2.41 mark over 33 2/3 innings from September on, and finished 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 194 1/3 innings, 26 starts, four complete games and a shutout: the best year he ever had, and behind only Bob Gibson among Cardinals starters.
Evan Tracy Stallard was a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher born August 31, 1937, in Coeburn, Virginia, where he went unbeaten across four years of high school ball before the Boston Red Sox signed him in 1956. Five minor league seasons followed, and he finally stuck with Boston in 1961. Over parts of seven major league seasons with the Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals he went 30-57 with a 4.17 ERA and 477 strikeouts in 764 2/3 innings, pitching his last game in July 1966. One pitch outlived all of it: on October 1, 1961, Roger Maris drove him over the wall for the 61st home run that passed Babe Ruth. Stallard made his peace with it, saying he was glad Maris did it off him, because otherwise he would never have been thought of again. He later ran a coal business back in Virginia, saw Coeburn High School name its new field for him in 1997, and entered the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005; Cooperstown never called. He died December 6, 2017, in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 295 | 1 | 52 | 164 | 55 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 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: #57 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #6 National League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #12 National League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #28 Barney Schultz
- #43 Mike Shannon
- #78 Dal Maxvill
- #100 Ken Boyer
- #116 Cards 1965 Rookie Stars
- #132 World Series Game #1 - Cards Take Opener
- #135 World Series Game #4 - Boyer's Grand-Slam
- #136 World Series Game #5 - 10th Inning Triumph
- #138 World Series Game #7 - Gibson Wins Finale
- #139 World Series - The Cards Celebrate
- #154 Bob Humphreys
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #491 card?
It is card #491 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tracy Stallard of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.