1965 Topps #515 Vern Law
About Vern Law
Card #515 is a high number from the seventh series, and it reports the season the comeback took hold. Pitching without pain again in 1964, Law made 29 starts among 35 appearances and went 12-13 with a 3.61 ERA over 192 innings, completing seven games and throwing five shutouts, two more than in his Cy Young year. His control came back with him: 1.5 walks per nine innings put him among the three stingiest in the National League.
Vernon Sanders Law pitched all 16 of his major league seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, from his 1950 debut through 1967, with 1952 and 1953 given to the Army. He signed out of Meridian, Idaho in 1948 after part-owner Bing Crosby telephoned his parents. Law went 18-9 in 1959, then 20-9 with a 3.08 ERA and 18 complete games in 1960, winning the Cy Young Award when a single trophy still covered both leagues, the first won by a Pirate. He started three games of that World Series and won Games One and Four on an ankle teammates had sprained while tugging at his shoe in the pennant celebration. Favoring it tore muscles at the back of his shoulder; three thin seasons followed, and Danny Murtaugh suggested he retire after 1963. Law came back instead, going 17-9 with a career-low 2.15 ERA in 1965 for National League Comeback Player of the Year and the Lou Gehrig Award. He finished 162-147 with a 3.77 ERA, then coached Pirates pitchers and later at Brigham Young University, where future Hall of Famer Jack Morris pitched for him. An elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was "Deacon" to teammates for the faith that governed his conduct; Pittsburgh elected him to the club's own Hall of Fame in August 2025.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 269 | 2 | 46 | 115 | 69 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 36 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 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: #209 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #2 National League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #12 National League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #25 Al McBean
- #54 Joe Gibbon
- #69 Bill Virdon
- #95 Bill Mazeroski
- #121 Gene Alley
- #143 Pirates 1965 Rookie Stars
- #160 Bob Clemente
- #195 Bob Veale
- #218 Dick Schofield
- #232 Steve Blass
- #246 Tom Butters
- #265 Jim Pagliaroni
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #515 card?
It is card #515 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Vern Law of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Is 1965 Topps #515 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last series, #507-598. Unlike most 1960s Topps sets the 1965 highs are not scarce as a run - the premium sits on the short-printed cards inside #523-598.
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.