1966 Topps #223 National League 1965 Pitching Leaders - Sandy Koufax / Tony Cloninger / Don Drysdale
On this card: Sandy Koufax, Tony Cloninger, Don Drysdale
National League pitching leaders card featuring Sandy Koufax, Tony Cloninger, and Don Drysdale
About this card
Cards #215-226 are the twelve League Leaders, printed in the middle of the third series rather than at the front of the set - the one structural quirk of 1966. Each card lists the 1965 leaders in one statistical category, the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
The story on this card
Card 223 is Topps' 1966 National League pitching leaders board, ranking the circuit's biggest winners from 1965: Sandy Koufax at 26-8, Tony Cloninger at 24-11 and Don Drysdale at 23-12. Koufax also posted a 2.04 ERA with 382 strikeouts, threw a perfect game, and took his second pitching Triple Crown. Cloninger's 24 wins were the most any Milwaukee Braves pitcher ever managed, the peak of his career. Drysdale, Koufax's rotation mate and the 1962 Cy Young winner, batted .300 with seven home runs that season, the only .300 hitter on a thin-hitting Dodgers club. A third-series card, it is just a spotlight leaders issue with three front-line arms on it.
Sandy Koufax was the Dodgers' left-hander nicknamed 'the Left Arm of God,' whose five-year run of dominance from 1962 to 1966 brought three unanimous Cy Young Awards and four no-hitters, including a perfect game, before an arthritic elbow forced his retirement at 30. Tony Cloninger was Milwaukee's power-armed staff ace, a 24-game winner in 1965, and the only pitcher in major-league history to hit two grand slams in one game - nine RBIs against the Giants on July 3, 1966. Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' intimidating right-hander for 14 seasons, the 1962 Cy Young winner and a three-time World Series champion who in 1968 ran off six straight shutouts and a record 58 2/3 scoreless innings.
Sources: Wikipedia (Sandy Koufax) · Wikipedia (Tony Cloninger) · Wikipedia (Don Drysdale) · SABR BioProject (Tony Cloninger) · SABR BioProject (Sandy Koufax) · SABR BioProject (Don Drysdale) · National Baseball Hall of Fame (1) · National Baseball Hall of Fame (2) · Baseball Almanac (Tony Cloninger) · Baseball Almanac (Don Drysdale)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 921 | 0 | 24 | 151 | 189 | 170 | 134 | 248 | 5 |
| SGC | 232 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 32 | 41 | 58 | 85 | 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. Where SGC registers no separate row for a variation state, its slabs of that card are listed under the base state.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1966 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 cards: #238 Los Angeles Dodgers, #326 Atlanta Braves
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #10 Tony Cloninger
- #28 Phil Niekro
- #49 Woody Woodward
- #84 Braves 1966 Rookie Stars
- #96 Felipe Alou
- #130 Joe Torre
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #223 card?
It is card #223 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sandy Koufax, Tony Cloninger and Don Drysdale. Cards #215-226 are the twelve League Leaders, printed in the middle of the third series rather than at the front of the set - the one structural quirk of 1966. Each card lists the 1965 leaders in one statistical category, the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
How many cards are in the 1966 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 613 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no number used twice, and 14 cards carry catalogued print variations - five checklists, the trade and sold statement backs, the three-state #43 Don Landrum, three team-card dot pairs and the #161 Jerry Lumpe white streak - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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.