Rookie Cup: 1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva

Today our Rookie Cup Series takes a look at 1964 AL Rookie of the Year Tony Oliva who is one of only six Cuban born players in the Hall of Fame.

1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva

Check out this Off-Center HOF beauty! 

1965T is one of my favorite card designs. I am a sucker for pennants.  Between the Pennant, Oliva's Twins Cap and the Cup trophy we have a fine combination of complimentary colors here.

Oliva earned Rookie of the Year honors by leading not just rookies but all of MLB in hitting with a .323 average. It was the first of 3 batting titles for Tony. 

The Numbers

1964 MLB Rookie WAR Leaders

Tony Oliva is listed 2nd here because his NL Rookie of the Year peer, Dick Allen had a Higher WAR, but you can still see all of his black ink. In addition to leading the league in Batting Average the young Cuban also ranked #1 in Runs, Hits (first of 5 times), Doubles (1st of 4), and Total Bases. Oliva's 374 Total Bases tied the Rookie record set by Hal Trotsky Sr in 1939. 60+ years later Tony Oliva still holds the record for Total Bases by a rookie, Nomar Garciaparra's 365 in 1997 has been the closest challenger. 

And how often do two rookies lead their respective leagues in Total Bases. Amazing Rookie class. 

Those numbers were good enough to place Oliva fourth in AL MVP vote which was won by Baltimore 3rd baseman Brooks Robinson (8.1 WAR, .317/28/118 LL)

ROY

Robinson's Orioles teammate Wally Bunker kept Oliva from a unanimous Rookie of the Year victory. Hard to compare Hitting & Pitching numbers. In 1964 the BBWAA members were not familiar with WAR, we simply note that Oliva's 6.8 is superlative while Bunker's is average. Looking at Bunker's triple crown numbers he ranked 3rd in Wins (FIRST in PCT) and 6th in ERA. During his 9 year career Bunker never finished top 10 in Ks. Oliva's 32 HR was 6th in the AL with the 94 RBI ranking 9th. That gives Tony Oliva finishes of 1,6,9 vs 3,6,11+ for Wally Bunker. I can see the one voter giving it to Bunker on the W-L Pct, but I offer Oliva's record setting LL Total Bases as a push, minimum. 

flip

1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva (b-side)

All the superlatives that we just went over and what is in the comic on Tony Oliva's first solo card?  For some reason Topps goes with the numbers Oliva put up in Short Seson D-League 3 years prior. I don't get it. Topps text does cover Oliva's Batting Championship, Hits Crown and ROY win in the text. Check out that batting average at Whytheville, it is not one of the crowns alluded to in the comic, but .410 in 249 ABs - that is solid at any professional level. 

GridLock

I have been playing Immaculate Grid with majority All-Star Rookie Cup Players. Today we are introducing a sub-feature dubbed GridLock where we will take a look at the Grid Possibilities of the players we cover. 

For Tony Oliva some good Grid Luck categories are: 

-Only 1 Team

-Born outside the US

-Rookie of the Year / ASG / GG

-Played all 3 OF positions. 

-Single Season 3xCrown Categories: .300 AVG, 30 HR, 100 RBI and 100 Runs

-6+ WAR season

-Career .300 hitter

Tony Oliva HOF Index

1965 Topps #340 (ROY - this posting) 

1970 Topps #510

Sources and Links
1965 All-Star Rookie Cup

phungo HOF Index

baseball-ref

SABR Bio - Peter C Bjarkman

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

Thursday August 20th is an important Anniversary of one of the most significant events in the Storied History of the New York Yankees.

It is the 56th Anniversary of the Harmonica Incident. 

If you are not familiar with the Harmonica Incident click the link above for a more detailed account, for our purposes the important facts are that Yankees Infielder Phil Linz was playing Harmonica on the team bus following a loss. This upset manager Yogi Berra, yelled "Shove that harmonica up your..." towards the back of the bus. Here is where it gets interesting...

Linz did not hear Yogi and asked Mickey Mantle what he said and Mickey said:

"PLAY IT LOUDER"

Which Phil Linz proceeded to do. This let to a confrontation between Berra and Linz including the harmonica being used as a projectile.

I original heard the story years ago when I first read "Ball Four" and was reminded of it reading Mitch Nathanson's outstanding biography "Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original" 

This got the crew at Phungo HQ thinking, this story needs a baseball card.

 Phungo Variation

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

I went with 1964T as the canvas as that was the year the incident occurred. To capture the humor of the event I went with the comic approach. The comic is not really original - I stole it from the back of Ed Sadowski's 1960 Topps Card

1960 Topps #403 Ed Sadowski (b-side)

Pretty happy with the reproduction of the -toon on my part. I love to envision Phil Linz being in as care free a mood as this comic right before being yelled at by Yogi Berra. 

I sort of kept the colors and lettering from the original 1960 comic. I went with an orange interior border to reflect the creamsicle backs of 1964 Topps.  To match the original Phil Linz card the comic extends out of frame into the team name area which matches the Red/Orange color from 1964T. I did change the player position from INF-OF to SS-3B to better reflect Phil Linz 1964 playing time.

Ed Sadowski was a backup catcher who spent the bulk of his 5 year career with the LA Angels. I did some minor digging and was unable to find more info on Sadowski's musical talents. Regardless his cartoon was good enough for me. 

In a sad note Ed Sadowski's bio revealed that he died in 1993 from Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Sources and Links

Phungo Original Index

Bob Nightengale USA TODAY

Mitch Nathanson - Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original

Topps Baseball Card DB

Baseball-Reference

Ed Sadowski SABR Bio -  Clayton Trutor

Anniversary 60 Years ago: Rocky Colavito 4 Home Run Day

June 10th marks the 60th anniversary of an historic game between the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. That Day Rocky Colavito became the 6th major league player to record a 4 Home Run game.

1964 Topps Jumbo #9 Rocky Colavito

The Indians won that game 11-8 with Colavito accounting for 6 RBI. Notice that the above card features Rocky as an Athletic not an Indian. Well that is because of the back of the card...

1959 Topps Jumbo #9 Rocky's Hot Bat (b-side)

As we can see the headline on this card is all about the 4 Homer game which is described in the cards first coupe sentences. The remainder of the text discusses Colavito's home run legacy all the way back to his minor league days.

Rocky Colavito's four home run game is also featured on the back of a 1964 Topps base card, #109. Colavito, however, does not appear on the front of that card, to find out more click here.

Sloppy Topps
The photo on the b-side of the card is also not with the Indians. Colavito wore three different numbers with Cleveland 6, 21 and 38 but never 7. The two squads for which he donned #7 were the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City A's. I am thinking that this photo is with the Tigers as Rocky Colavito didn't join the Athletics until 1964. The front appears to be an Airbrushed Tigers photo as well. 

1964 Topps Jumbo
I love this set and I have it on the back burner to build. They are referred to Jumbo or Giant cards because they are oversized at just over 3"x5". I go with Jumbo because when you search on "1964 Topps Giant" you get a bunch of Willy Mays cards, but not necessarily Jumbos. 

Colavito's Four Home Run Game
Baseball-Ref Box
1964 Topps #109 (Rusty Staub)

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards Index
1964 Topps Jumbo Index
Baseball-Ref
ebay
Cardboard Connection

1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (1964 Topps Set)

This is an index to postings related to the 1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Team which was honored with cards in the 1964 Topps set. The Set includes Phillies pitcher Ray Culp as well as superstar gambler Pete Rose.

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

73  Jimmy Hall
85  Pete Ward
109  Rusty Staub (SABR 1964 Topps / Rocky Colavito)
125  Pete Rose (Wax Pack Gods memory)
130  Gary Peters
168  Al Weis
330  Tommy Harper (1963 Topps Rookie All-Star Banquet)

412 Ray Culp (Profile & index) 

435  Vic Davalillo
457  Jesse Gonder (SABR 1963 Rookie Cup Voting / Missing Cup)

Sources and Links
All-Star Rookie Index
Baseball-Ref

 

TRENDY: Jameson Taillon

The Pirates have called up 2010 #2 Overall Pick Jameson Taillon and he is expected to get his first Major League Start tonight with the reigning NL Champion New York Mets. 

2013 Heritage Minors #127 Jameson Taillon

Fun card here from the minor league version of the 1964T homage. I know it says Curve for the team name but my guess is Taillon is going to be another one of these young pitchers that throw 100 mph.

Jameson Taillon put up great numbers in AAA so far this year. Key numbers include 2.04 ERA with 61 Ks in 61+ innings against only 6 walks! His batting average against is an impressive .196 with a similar WHIP of 0.81.

Regardless the rookie is facing the Mets, Go Bucos!

Sources and Links
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cardboard Connection

Your 2015 Phillies All-Star Jonathan Papelbon 2013 Topps Heritage #104

Tonight we open our 2015 All-Star Game Coverage

Last night Major League Baseball announced the All-Star Reserves. This is about as exciting as the 2015 Phillies get. Rightfully the team did not have any starters elected to the squad.

And despite the fact that the Phillies have the worst record in baseball, the rules, customs and decorum of the mid-summer classic dictate that the Phillies to get a minimum of one roster spot on the All-Star Team.

2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon

Closer Jonathan Papelbon was selected to represent the Phillies in Cincinnati. This is Papelbon's sixth all-star selection and second as a Phil.

 2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon (b-side)

Presenting the flip here for a couple of reasons, First off I like the trivia question. Secondly Papelbon's partner for card #104 in the original 1964T release was Art Mahaffey and I want to take a closer look at these two cards in the future.

As far as the Trivia Question, I thought it was due to 2 runners scoring on a single sacrifice, however the answer has to do with an error being committed on a dropped fly. The Runner scores/advances on the error, and the batter is ALSO awarded a sacrifice. Baseball Reference has a posting on four occurrences of triple sacrifice innings. 

2015 All-Star Coverage
Bobby Abreu
Johnny Bench
Rickey Henderson
Art Mahaffey
Robin Roberts
Pete Rose
2014 All-Star Coverage

Sources and Links
baseball-ref

WAR Stories 2015 Projections: Darin Ruf

Today our 2015 WAR Projections turn to Darin Ruf

2013 Topps Heritage Chrome #HC98 Darin Ruf/Tyler Cloyd (refractor/purple)

Darin Ruf is a First Baseman, trouble is the Phils are already paying somebody $25MM dollars to play that position. He can also play outfield, trouble there is the Phillies are trying to figure out if any of their younger players can play those positions.

That leaves Ruf as a man without a position. He has shown some signs that he can hit if given the opportunity. And in 2015 Ryne Sandberg has moved forward and started Ruf as part of a platoon at first base. I think by the end of May if Ryan Howard doesn't show he can return to some sort of form that Darin Ruf may see a larger role at first.

2013 Heritage
This is a purple refractor which likely originated as a bonus in a Toys R Us Rack. I picked it up in a trade package from Cards on Cards. Once again we must talk about position, not sure why Topps went with the general position of infield for Ruf. He has always been either a first baseman or corner outfielder outside of a couple of games at 3B, but not enough to declare IF for his position.

2015+
Darin Ruf is moving into his prime hitting years, position-wise to this point he has always been moving around. I See him sticking as 400 PA first base/OF player this year but not contributing much more than a replacement level play +0.5

Sources and Links
2015 Phillies WAR projections
Baseball-ref

1964 Topps - 2013 Heritage Index

This is an Index of Posts related to our series on 1964 Topps.

1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison 

Most of the posts originally ran in 2013 coinciding with that years Heritage release which was inspired by 1964 Topps.


1964 Topps / 2013 Heritage Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos)  

1964 Topps b-Sides (Ray Culp)

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

1964 Topps Team Cards (Phillies, Reds)  

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

Chris Stufflestreet - Vintage Sportscards 1964 Topps Giants

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

1964 Phillies @ 50: Roy Sievers 1964 Topps #43

This feature has extended into year two so this is really 1964 Phillies at 51 but I have decided to stick to the original title. My Blog My Rules.

1964 Topps #43 Roy Sievers

Yesterday we returned to our 2014 series on the 1959 Baseball Thrills Subset and discussed Roy Sievers 42 home run season in 1957. Today we move forward seven years and find Sievers at age 37 and playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roy Seivers came to the Phillies prior to the 1962 campaign. His all-star seasons were behind him, but he remained productive combining for 40 homer runs and 160 RBIs in 282 games during his first two seasons with the club.

Unfortunately he was unable to contribute during the Phillies near miss 1964. Sievers batting average fell to .183 with and OPS+ of 66 - The position ended up being a revolving door for the 64 Phils, with John Herrnstein and his .234 average with 6 homers leading the team in games at first.

Sources n Links
1964 Phillies Index
baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50

This is an index of postings related to the Phillies infamous 1964 Phillies team that led the National League most of the season only to collapse in the final few weeks. 

1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison
Most of these posts were written during 2014 thus the feature title. I am sure we will add some postings in the future but the foundation is all 2014. 

1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen (65 Topps) 
Dick Allen John Hernstein RC (64 Topps)   
Ruben Amaro
Dennis Bennett (64 Topps)
Jim Bunning Perfect Game  (65 Topps)
Johnny Callison  (64 Topps)
Johnny Callison ASG Home Run (1967 Topps)
Johnny Callison 1964 ASG (1983 Topps Dale Murphy)
Clay Dalrymple (1963 Fleer)
Pat Corrales (1965 Topps RC)
Wes Covington
Ray Culp
Ryne Duren
Tony Gonzalez (61 Topps)
Dallas Green (62 Topps)
Alex Johnson (66 Topps, 66T w/ Trade Statement)
John Herrnstein (65 Topps)
Art Mahaffey (1960 Topps Rookie Star) 
Gene Mauch
Cookie Rojas (first ASG in Minnesota - 1965)
Bobby Shantz
Costen Shockley (1965 Topps Rookie Stars) 
Roy Sievers (1964 Topps)
Chris Short (1967 Topps)
Tony Taylor (1976 Topps)
Frank Thomas (1965 Topps) 
Bobby Wine  (1963 Topps)
Rick Wise (1972 Topps In Action)

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dick Allen (RC) 1964 Topps #243

Last week we may committed a bit of a fuax pas by marking a Mets 50th anniversary and overlooking a significant Phillies Anniversary

1964 Topps #243 Richie Allen & John Herrnstien (RC)

50 years ago last Thursday Dick Allen, then known as Richie, Hit his first career Home Run as the Phillies defeated the Cubs 10-8. The Homer was hit at Wrigley Field off of southpaw Dick Ellsworth.

The 18 run slugfest that day featured 8 Home Runs between the two teams, including 4 from 3 different Hall of Famers (Billy Willaims (2), Ron Santo, and Lou Brock). Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey also hit his last of 3 career Homers that day.

1964T Rookie Card
We have featured both Allen and Herrnstein in our 1964 Phillies retrospective previosuly. I have been meaning to post this card to bring the two players together since posting each of them separately as part of the Phungo cross feature on 1965T/2014 Topps Heritage. Herrnstein was originally posted here on February 17, A week later we put together this posting on Dick Allen. 

   
Sources
1964 Phillies Series 
Dick Allen Player Collection Index
baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dennis Bennett

After a bit of a hiatus today we return to our 1964 Phillies feature. On this date 50 years ago the Phillies begin their surprising 1964 campaign

1964 Topps #396 Dennis Bennett

On a team that had both Jim Bunning and Chris Short, the player that earned the opening day start for the 1964 Phillies was Lefty Dennis Bennett. The Phillies beat the Mets 5-3 that day, despite the fact that Bennett only went 4 2/3 innings. Roy Sievers had the big blow that day with a 3 run homer in the first and the Phillies never trailed.

Bennett's 1964 Season got of to a great start and he ran his record to 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA by mid June. Unfortunately a nagging shoulder injury would hamper the rest of his season. By contrast, after the 20th of June Bennett was 4-10 with an ERA of 4.10.

There was one interesting highlight to a rather poor start form Dennis Bennett's 1964 season. On June 12th he wasn't able to get out of the 3rd inning, as the Mets banged him around for 5 early runs. The game ended up being a 11-3 blowout, but the otherwise miserable game did provide the opportunity for Dennis' younger brother Dave Bennett to make his Major League Debut. Dave Bennett pitched the 9th inning that day giving up a run on a pair of hits. He had a single strikeout. It was Dave Bennett's only Major League appearance.   

During a recent Phillies broadcast it was noted that with Jayson Nix(younger brother of Laynce)  the Phillies have now featured 10 sets of brothers - The Bennett's were of course one of those 10 sets.


Flip Side

1964 Topps #386 Topps Dennis Bennett (b-side)

The blurb on the flip of Bennett's 64T card notes that he was recovering from an accident at the time. However, Topps doesn't tell us the whole tragic story of the incident which occurred while Bennett was in Puerto Rico playing winter ball. The driver in the accident was killed and Bennett's injuries were quite serious. He was sent through the cars windshield and broke his left ankle, collarbone and pelvis. At the time doctors suggested Bennett would never pitch again, possibly not walk. 

Bennett recovered and returned to the Phillies by June of 1963. He pitched well, but the broken collarbone is what likely led to his shoulder issues that would mar the 2nd half of the 1964 season. 

Following his playing career Dennis Bennett settled in Klamath Falls Oregon, a small city in the South Central part of the state. He lived there operating various restaurants until his death in 2012. 
1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen  
Dennis Bennett
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
John Herrnstein 
Chris Short
Tony Taylor
Frank Thomas  
Bobby Wine 
 
Sources
Baseball-ref 
Year of the Blue Snow
Klamath Falls
CSN Phillies Broadcast 
 

1964 Phillies @ 50: Johnny Callison 1964 Topps #135

2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Phillies. The team is primarily remembered for their collapse, losing ten games in a row and a 6.5 game lead during the final two weeks of the season. It should also be remembered that the 1964 squad is the most competitive team the Phillies fielded between the 1950 whiz kids and their late 70s playoff run.

1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison 

We kick off our 1964 Phillies series with a look at fan favorite Johnny Callison, who likely would have been the NL MVP had it done been for the teams collapse. Callison finished 2nd to Ken Boyer who played for the Pennant Winning Cardinals.

For 1964 Callison's offensive numbers included 31 Home Runs which ranked him 3rd in the league, 104 RBIs (4th), and 101 Runs Scored (6th). On the defensive side of the ball Callison was impressive as well, leading RFs in Putouts, Assists, and several advanced metrics including Range Factor, Zone Runs and Fielding Percentage.    

Callison made his 3rd of 4 all-star teams in 1964 - and it is a good thing he did. Callison tagged Dick Radatz for a 3 Run Wall-Off Homer that gave the senior circuit a 7-4 victory at Shea Stadium. It was the first time a Phillies player had ever homered in the All-Star Game.      

From 1962-65 Johnny Callison put together four great season. He clubbed 112 Homers during the span logging a WAR of 6+ each year. He played a minimum of 157 games each of those seasons and was a significant offensive force for the Phillies throughout the era. Unfortunately Callison's offensive production fell off after that period. The Phillies traded Callison following the '69 season and he finished his career playing for the Cubs and Yankees.

Johnny Callison Died in 2006 at the age of 67. When the Mets hosted the All-Star game this past summer, Steve Wulf wrote this terrific piece on Johnny Callison for ESPN.com to commemorate his Game Winning HR in the 1964 all-star game.

1964 Topps
Callison was a youthful 25 in 1964, but if you think that he looks younger than that on his 1964 card - You would be correct! That is because this 64T image is a recrop of the pix used for Callison's 1961 Topps #468 Card. 

More Callison
1963 Topps #434
1965 Topps #310


Sources
Baseball-Ref
ESPN

Swag from Cards on Cards

Got home form a typical lousy Monday to have my mood quickly changed by a very nice card package from Kerry of Cards on Cards. Here are some of the highlights

2006 Bowman Heritage Pieces of Greatness #PG-RH Ryan Howard

The picture of Ryan Howard is a little odd as Topps is trying to capture the style of the classic 1949 Bowman here. Cool card with a nice striped Jersey snippet.

2013 Topps Heritage Chrome #HC98 Darin Ruf/Tyler Cloyd (refractor/purple)
2013 Topps #83 Darin Ruf Green Parallel

Couple of nice Darin Ruf parallels. Ruf is a bit of a fan favorite but the Phillies latest moves regarding several bench players seem to indicate that Darin isn't in their plans for 2014.

2012 Topps #243 Justin DeFratus (blue parallel)
2013 Topps #US71 Cody Asche

Two more Phillies RCs for the collection. Kerry must be busy out there getting new product, the Asche card is part of the Update Series - feels like it just came out.

ConC sent over two team bags of cards, here are some of the rest

2013 Topps Heritage 3-Pack Black Border Cards

Picked up one of those 2013 Topps Heritage 3 Packs yesterday to see what the parallels look like.  Topps has been doing this for a few years now, As far back as 2011 at least. The 3-Packs run $9.49 or $10.06 when you factor in PA Sales Tax.  That is a savings of 50 cents over picking up 3 loose packs plus you get the 3 bonus cards.

2013 Topps Heritage Black #479 Ian Kinsler

2013 Topps Heritage Black #350 Matt Cain

2013 Topps Heritage Black #477 Yadier Molina

The black border treatment for 2013 is much better then 2012 Heritage, where only the top 2/3 of the card could be black bordered.  It just looked awkward. The Black Border 2013 Topps Heritage do echo 1971 Topps.

Either I got a bit lucky with my bonus pack or the SPs are not an issue for the black borders, because both Kinsler and Molina are both among the High Numbered shorts.

Other Inserts

2013 Topps Heritage Memorable Moments - Teddy Wins First Presidential Races

2013 Topps Heritage Refracter #HC61 Yoennis Cespedes (#d/564)

The Teddy card is up for card of the year for me, and I am happy to pack draw him.  Not sure that 2012 memorable moments really belong in Heritage.  The Cespedes is a Refractor Parallel.  My other insert was the Then/Now of Whitey Ford/Felix Hernandez.  The Stat was shutouts - although in 1964 Whitey Ford did not lead the league in shutouts - that honor went to Dean Chance.

Base

The 24 base cards yielded a grand total of ZERO Phillies cards so team Phungo is still seeking our first 2013 Topps Heritage Phillies card. The other thing we noted is some of the caps look huge when they spill over the border. This to me is the defining characteristic for 1964 Topps. It's a set I didn't love at first put the beyond the border does help the headshot pop a little.  Since profile pix are the norm across Heritage it is a design element that works for the retro set. 

  

  

2013 Topps the Originals - 1964 Topps Giants

Today we look at a Set that Topps released in 1964, but wasn't issued with the base set.  The 1964 Topps Giants set was a near postcard sized issue of 60 cards.

1964 Topps Giant #7 Whitey Ford

I really like this design simple uncluttered.  I would like to see Topps bring this format back for the smaller traditional sized cards, just to see what it would like. Either Archives or Lineage including these cards as box toppers a few years ago, but I haven't picked any up yet. I would hope that 2013 Heritage would do the same thing this year, but I have not seen any indication that there are plans for including the larger format cards.

1964 Topps Giant #7 Whitey Ford (b-side)


I really like the flip side of these cards.  I have always been a fan of the newsprint format on cards. Having the 2nd photo on the cards is also a nice bonus.  The late Chris Stufflestreet wrote a fine column on this set in 2011 which you can find here.

Whitey Ford

For all of the card blogs I have read, I have not see many folks talk about Whitey Ford, which is a bit odd.  He is a Yankee and a Hall of Famer who was on Six World Championship teams. .

Ford won 236 games in the majors, leading the league 3 times. One of those seasons was 1961 when He went 25-4 and won the Cy Young Award.  He had an additional 10 World Series victories - over 146 World Series innings he compiled a tidy ERA of 2.71. 

Whitey Ford was also a 10 time all-star. Great all-around numbers and the guy lost 2 years to military service as well.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974 on his second ballot.

Today Whitey Ford is still alive at age 84.  He worked the Philly Show within the last couple of years.

For the Collector

The 1964 Topps cards are not uncommon at shows and are usually reasonably priced. I picked the Ford card above up as part of a lot of about a dozen cards with many Hall of Famers. Whitey Ford made up about $2 of the lot price.  Recent Lo-Bay close $3.75 with six auctions ending at $5 or under. The High for a PSA 9 (Mint) auction was $48.50

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos)  

1964 Topps b-Sides (Ray Culp)

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

1964 Topps Team Cards (Phillies, Reds)  

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

Chris Stufflestreet - Vintage Sportscards 1964 Topps Giants

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources 
Phungo Whitey Ford HoF Index
1964 Topps Jumbo Index 

Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies

Baseball-Reference.com 

2013 Topps Heritage Originals - 1964 Topps B-Sides

In my opionion 1964 Topps has a terribly ugly flip side. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp (b-Side)

The ugly part for me is that creamsicle orange.  There have been a few other Topps issues with orange backs, but they are typically a bit darker.  This light orange is just yucky looking to me.  

The rest of the b-side is fine. Minor and Major league stats, Bio info and a brief passage regarding the player.  Can you imagine the buzz a rookie pitcher would get if he tossed 5 shutouts in his rookie campaign? 

One really interesting aspect of 1964 Topps b-side is the trivia question with the scratch off answer. Anxious to find out how Topps Heritage handles this.  It adds a bit of expense to create the card, and I am not sure that collectors will want to deface their cards.

Curisously 15 first inning runs is not the record. In 1894 the Boston Beaneaters had a 16 run first.  The Dodgers put the 15 spot on the Reds in a game on May 21, 1952.  At one point in that first inning the Dodgers had 14 consecutive batters reach base. 

Sloppy Topps
And here we have a sloppy topps candidate.  The Dodgers didn't move to Los Angeles until 1958 so there is a bit of an inaccuracy in the trivia answer.  Good thing there weren't card blogs forums and twitter to back Topps for shoddy Quality Control in 1964.

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos) 

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

1964 Topps Team Cards (Phillies, Reds)  

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources & Links

Ray Culp Rookie Cup Index
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies 

2013 Topps Heritage Topps Originals - 1964 Topps Team Cards

some of the team cards for 1964 Topps seem to be taken at an extreme distance - The Reds card below isn't so bad but the Phillies card looks like they are in a room down the hall.

1964 Topps #403 Cincinnati Reds 

1964 Topps #293 Phillies Team

Notice anything else odd about these two cards.  The Phils are titled "PHILLIES TEAM" while the "CINCNNATI REDS" get the full name and nickname treatment.  It appears that the Phils as well as several other teams in one of the middle series of 1964 Topps are given the nickname-team treatment while the lower and hi series cards get the more traditional full team name.

It will be interesting to see if Topps carries this through in Heritage. I doubt this will happen due to copyright issues or some other legality, regardless we will find out in a week.

Here is a breakdown of how the cards are titled in 1964 Topps.  

Nickname Only

 

293 Phillies
318 Twins

343 Senators

 

Full Team name

 

27 Mets

87 Cardinals

132 Braves

151 Athletics

172 Indians

213 Angels

237 Cubs

257 Giants

 ...

373 Pirates

403 Reds

433 Yankees

473 Orioles

496 White Sox

531 Dodgers

579 Red 

 

Oddly the two teams that are Identified as nickname-team are the Twins and Senators - Which are teams that are connected because the Twins were once the Senators. Apparently among the variations in 2013 Topps Heritage are cards of Nationals players labeled as Senators.   

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos) 

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies