#6 1964 N.L. RBI Leaders - Boyer, Santo & Mays

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1965 Topps set.

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #175
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this was the most expensive of the bunch at $15, thanks entirely to the presence of Willie Mays (#250).  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Cubs Team Set / Giants Team Set
Ken Boyer (#100) set his career high in 1964 with 119 RBIs, and this was the only year he'd lead the league in any major offensive category.  His 111 RBIs in 1963 found him in second place behind Hank Aaron's (#170) 130.  Boyer's big year led the Cardinals to a World Series victory and resulted in Boyer's selection as the league's MVP.

Ron Santo (#110) never led the league in RBIs despite topping the 100-RBI plateau in four different seasons.  He had 114 in 1964 and he'd hit his career high in 1969 with 123.  Mays would also never lead the league in RBIs and he possessed a staggering 10 seasons in which he drove in 100 runs or more.  Mays' career high came in 1962 when he drove in 141 runs, but he still finished in second place behind Tommy Davis (#370) and his 153 RBIs.

On the back of the card, Mays' and Santo's places in the ordering of the leaders is swapped for some reason.  Tony Taylor (#296) squeaked onto the back of the card as he drove in his 46th run on the final day of the season on October 4th.

Previous Card:  #5 1964 A.L. RBI Leaders

Next Card:  #7 1964 A.L. ERA Leaders