1974 Topps #634 Braves Field Leaders - Eddie Mathews / Herm Starrette / Connie Ryan / Jim Busby / Ken Silvestri
On this card: Eddie Mathews, Herm Starrette, Connie Ryan, Jim Busby, Ken Silvestri
About this card
Managers have their own cards this year, separate from the 24 team cards: twenty Field Leaders cards picture a manager with two to four of his coaches, and #578 Ralph Houk of the Tigers is the one solo manager card. The Athletics, Yankees and Padres have a team card but no manager card. Eight Field Leaders cards include a Hall of Famer, among them the Dodgers' Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda (#144) and coaches Bill Mazeroski (#489) and Larry Doby (#531).
About Braves Field Leaders (Eddie Mathews / Herm Starrette / Connie Ryan / Jim Busby / Ken Silvestri)
Atlanta finished fifth under Mathews in 1973 at 76-85, 22 1/2 games out of first place. Card #634 is the Braves' manager-and-coaches card, listing Mathews with Herm Starrette, Connie Ryan, Jim Busby and Ken Silvestri. He was still the manager on April 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, and was fired on July 21 with the club at 50-49. Eddie Mathews was the Braves' slugging third baseman, an All-Star in nine seasons who hit 512 home runs across Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Houston and Detroit, formed a record power duo with Hank Aaron, and won World Series rings in 1957 and 1968.
Starrette came to the 1974 Atlanta Braves as a major-league pitching coach, after six seasons as the Orioles' roving minor-league pitching instructor. Card #634 in the 1974 Topps set is the Braves manager-and-coaches card: Eddie Mathews, Starrette, Connie Ryan, Jim Busby and Ken Silvestri. A Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher from 1963 to 1965, Herm Starrette later spent 28 years as a pitching coach and instructor, and was the pitching coach of the 1980 world champion Phillies.
Ryan coached third base for Atlanta in 1974 and was the first man to shake Hank Aaron's hand as Aaron rounded third after the record-setting home run. He had also coached the Braves in 1971 and 1973. Card #634 is the Braves manager-and-coaches card, shared by Eddie Mathews, Herm Starrette, Jim Busby and Ken Silvestri along with Ryan. Connie Ryan played second and third base for the Giants, Braves, Reds, Phillies and White Sox from 1942 to 1954, made the 1944 All-Star team, and later served as interim manager of the 1975 Atlanta Braves and 1977 Texas Rangers.
Jim Busby spent eight seasons on the Atlanta Braves staff, 1968 through 1975, and was a coach under Eddie Mathews in 1973, when the club went 76-85 and finished fifth in the National League West. That Braves team was the first with three 40-home-run hitters, and Hank Aaron ended the year with 713 career home runs. Busby shares manager card #634 with Mathews, Herm Starrette, Connie Ryan and Ken Silvestri. Cleveland center fielder Jim Busby hit grand slams on July 5 and 6, 1956, against Detroit and Kansas City. The second supplied all of Cleveland's runs in a 4-2 victory; he finished the season with 12 homers.
Hank Aaron's record-breaking 715th home run came in the Braves' 1974 home opener, and Silvestri, the Atlanta bullpen coach, was there to see it. 'It brought a few tears to my eyes,' he said, adding that he felt like telling Aaron, 'Now we both can retire.' His 1974 Topps card is #634, the Braves managers and coaches card he shares with Eddie Mathews, Herm Starrette, Connie Ryan and Jim Busby. Switch-hitting backup catcher for the White Sox, Yankees and Phillies who handled Robin Roberts for two scoreless innings of Game 2 of the 1950 World Series. A Braves bullpen coach from 1963 to 1975, he managed Atlanta for the final three games of 1967.
Sources: Wikipedia (Eddie Mathews) · Wikipedia (Herm Starrette) · Wikipedia (Connie Ryan) · Wikipedia (Jim Busby) · Wikipedia (Ken Silvestri) · SABR BioProject (Eddie Mathews) · SABR BioProject (Herm Starrette) · SABR BioProject (Connie Ryan) · SABR BioProject (Jim Busby) · SABR BioProject (Ken Silvestri) · Baseball Almanac (Eddie Mathews) · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Retrosheet (1) · Retrosheet (2) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 353 | 5 | 91 | 181 | 47 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
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- #6 Hank Aaron Special: 1970-1973
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #634 card?
It is card #634 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Eddie Mathews, Herm Starrette, Connie Ryan, Jim Busby and Ken Silvestri. Managers have their own cards this year, separate from the 24 team cards: twenty Field Leaders cards picture a manager with two to four of his coaches, and #578 Ralph Houk of the Tigers is the one solo manager card. The Athletics, Yankees and Padres have a team card but no manager card. Eight Field Leaders cards include a Hall of Famer, among them the Dodgers' Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda (#144) and coaches Bill Mazeroski (#489) and Larry Doby (#531).
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.