1965 Topps #44 Wade Blasingame
About Wade Blasingame
Card #44 in the 1965 Topps set's first print series captures Blasingame's finest season. Pitching for the Milwaukee Braves in the franchise's last year before the move to Atlanta, he set career highs across the board: 16 wins, 10 complete games, 224.2 innings and 117 strikeouts over 36 starts. He also handled 62 fielding chances without an error, tops among NL pitchers, and drew comparisons to Warren Spahn for his curveball. This is a recognized rookie card for the 21-year-old lefty.
Wade Blasingame was a hard-throwing left-hander out of Fresno, California, who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 for a $125,000 bonus after a perfect 26-0 prep career at Theodore Roosevelt High School. He debuted with the Braves in September 1963 and broke through in 1965, going 16-10 with 224.2 innings and league-best fielding among NL pitchers as the club played its final Milwaukee season. Finger and shoulder trouble followed in 1966, and a June 1967 trade sent him to the Houston Astros, where he pitched through the 1971 season as a starter and reliever. He closed his career with the New York Yankees in 1972. Over ten major league seasons he went 46-51 with a 4.52 ERA in 222 games. He later returned to Fresno, the city where he had starred as a schoolboy pitcher, and in 1985 was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 221 | 0 | 30 | 107 | 57 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1965 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #426 Milwaukee Braves
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #2 National League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #23 Bob Tiefenauer
- #63 Ty Cline
- #82 Braves 1965 Rookie Stars
- #106 Gene Oliver
- #127 Frank Lary
- #156 Bob Sadowski
- #170 Hank Aaron
- #182 Mike de la Hoz
- #200 Joe Torre
- #223 Dan Osinski
- #241 Mack Jones
- #269 Frank Bolling
- #287 Gary Kolb
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #44 card?
It is card #44 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Wade Blasingame of the Milwaukee Braves.
Is 1965 Topps #44 a rookie card?
Yes - #44 is the 1965 Topps rookie card of Wade Blasingame.
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.