#350 Mickey Mantle - New York Yankees

Mickey Charles Mantle
New York Yankees
Outfield

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  195
Born:  October 20, 1931, Spavinaw, OK
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1951-1968
Hall of Fame Induction:  1974
Died:  August 13, 1995, Dallas, TX (age 63)

Writing about the extremely well-known Hall of Famers in this set is way more difficult and daunting than writing about the fringe players who enjoyed a cup of coffee in the majors.  What can I write here about Mickey Mantle that isn't already well known and better written?

With that caveat out of the way . . . Mickey Mantle, the popular center fielder for the Yankees during their 1950s and early 1960s dynasty, was a three-time A.L. MVP winner, a 20-time All-Star, a triple crown winner in 1956 and a member of 7 World Champion Yankees teams.  He's regarded as one of the best switch hitters in baseball history and was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1974.  Mantle led the league in home runs four times and in runs scored five times.  He finished his career with a .298 batting average, 2,415 hits, 536 home runs (currently 18th all-time) and 1,509 RBIs.  His #7 was retired by the Yankees upon his retirement in 1969, he ranked 17th on the 1998 Sporting News list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players, and he was voted as one of the three outfielders on Major League Baseball's All-Century Team.

Not surprisingly, Mantle was my Dad's favorite non-Phillies baseball player.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set
December 3, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Card Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #598
This was the fourth of four final cards acquired for our set at The Philly Show, the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  We arrived at the show in a steady rain right after doors opened at 9am, secured our autograph tickets and started walking the floor prior to the arrival of most of the crowd.  My goal for the show was simple:  Find the last four cards needed to complete our 1965 Topps set.  I wrote a full summary of the show in this post over at The Phillies Room.

The first two cards needed to complete our set took a while to find, but I eventually added the Orlando Cepeda (#360) and the Gordy Coleman (#269) cards within the first hour of walking around.  With Cepeda and Coleman out of the way, I turned my attention to the Tony Perez rookie card (#581) and the BIG final card needed for our set - this Mantle card.  Perez came quickly, as I found a gorgeous version of the card for sale from dealer America's Pastime.  Having spent a few hours at this point walking the show floor, I had added notes in my phone for the location of five ungraded Mantles I had come across so far, none of which had checked off the two qualities I was looking for - relative affordability and excellent or better condition.

When I came across this Mantle card from Sports Card Plus, I knew we had completed our set.  There was some negotiation, and a little hesitation, but I eventually agreed to the price the dealer finally offered.  And then . . . I went a step further.  In the case next to the stack of 1965 Topps superstar cards was a stack of 1969 Topps superstar cards with the 1969 Topps Mantle card, one of the key cards of that set, on top of the stack.  I asked to see that card as well, studied it for a minute or two, and offered the dealer a bundled price for the two Mantle cards.  My offer was accepted after a few beats, Venmo information was exchanged, and the cards were ours.  Our 1965 Topps set, begun almost three years prior, was complete.

I found Doug and casually announced, "We completed the set."  Smiling, he asked to see the Mantle card and then I proceeded to show him not one but two new Mantle cards.  I then regaled him with my negotiation story, which will be embellished and lengthened for dramatic effect as the years go on.  My Dad would be proud.  Four down, none to go.

I honestly held off a few weeks to write this post as we were busy with Christmas preparations and because I didn't want this particular journey to end.  This was fun.  Slogging through some of the commons and multi-player Rookie Star cards got a little tedious at times, but I enjoyed myself.  As I've stated before on this blog, writing about these baseball cards helped me escape briefly each day and got me through some long, stressful days during the 2020 pandemic.  I'll start up my 1969 Topps blog in earnest now, with regular posting starting in the new year.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
Each of Mantle's cards in Topps flagship sets between 1952 and 1969 are iconic, and this card is no exception.  The back of the card highlights his heroics in the 1964 World Series, and his walk-off home run in Game 3 is highlighted earlier in the set (#134).  Mantle also appears on two League Leaders cards for home runs (#3) and RBIs (#5), so this base card is his fourth appearance overall in the 1965 Topps set.  Also highlighted on the back are his three MVP wins and his four home run titles.  He would not add to either of those tallies.

This card has been reprinted quite a bit, and I tried to review Mantle's entire cardboard output in the Trading Card Database to determine how many different reprints are available.  I counted six different reprint versions for the card, starting with the reprints available as inserts with the 1996 Topps flagship set and up to the 2021 Topps x Mickey Mantle exclusive online set.

1965 Season
Mantle's SABR biography notes "years of injuries, late nights and excessive alcohol consumption" caught up to him in 1965.  While he was still an All-Star, he endured possibly the worst season of his career, batting .255 in 122 games with 19 home runs and 46 RBIs.  The Yankees finished below .500 at 77-85 and in sixth place, with Mantle making 107 starts in left field.

1951 Bowman #253

1952 Topps #311

1959 Topps #10

1962 Topps #200

1969 Topps #500

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #253
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25):  1952-1953, 1956-1969, 1975, 1996, 2006-2012
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Update Salute to the Mick #STM-9

5,873 - Mantle non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/21/22.

Sources:  
1956 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

And with that, this blog is done! The video above flips through the entire glorious and bindered set.

Previous Card:  #349 Larry Miller - New York Mets

Next Card:  #351 Jim Perry - Minnesota Twins

#581 N.L. Rookie Stars - Tony Perez / Kevin Collins / Dave Ricketts

Atanacio Perez
Cincinnati Reds
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  175
Born:  May 14, 1942, Camaguey, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent, March 12, 1960
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1964-1976; Montreal Expos 1977-1979; Boston Red Sox 1980-1982; Philadelphia Phillies 1983; Cincinnati Reds 1984-1986
As a Manager:  Cincinnati Reds 1993; Florida Marlins 2001

Hall of Fame Induction:  2000

Kevin Michael Collins
New York Mets
Infield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  180
Born:  August 4, 1946, Springfield, MA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1965, 1967-1969; Montreal Expos 1969; Detroit Tigers 1970-1971
Died:  February 20, 2016, Naples, FL (age 69)

David William Ricketts
St. Louis Cardinals
Catcher

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  July 12, 1935, Pottstown, PA
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1963, 1965, 1967-1969; Pittsburgh Pirates 1970
Died:  July 13, 2008, St. Louis, MO (age 73)

1984 Fleer #636

As the first baseman for the Big Red Machine in the mid-1970s, and often cited as the team's leader, Tony Perez helped the Reds win back-to-back World Championships in 1975 and 1976.  Perez drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons between 1967 and 1980, and drove in at least 90 runs between 1967 and 1977.  He was a seven-time All-Star and the MVP of the 1967 game due to his game-winning home run in the 15th inning off Catfish Hunter (#526).  Nicknamed "Big Dog" or "Doggie," Perez helped propel Cincinnati to its four World Series throughout the 1970s with a career year in 1970.  He batted .317 that season with 40 home runs and 129 RBIs, with all three marks career bests.  His RBI tally of 954 in the 1970s was second for the decade behind his teammate Johnny Bench.

Perez was dealt to Montreal following the 1976 season, and he continued his steady hitting with the Expos and later the Red Sox between 1977 and 1982.  In 1983, he was reunited with his Big Red Machine teammates Pete Rose (#207) and Joe Morgan (#16), as all three helped the Phillies reach the World Series.  He spent the final three seasons of his playing career back in Cincinnati, playing for player-manager Rose and serving mainly as a successful pinch-hitter.  Perez retired with a lifetime .279 average, 2,732 hits, 505 doubles, 379 home runs and 1,652 RBIs.  

2001 Topps Archives #273

He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1998 and had his #24 retired by the team in 2000.  Perez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.  He briefly managed in the majors with the Reds (1993) and Marlins (2001), and coached for the Reds between 1987 and 1992.  He served as a Special Assistant to the General Manager for the Marlins between 1993 and 2017.

Kevin Collins played in parts of six big league seasons, primarily with the Mets between 1965 and 1969.  An infielder, he was frequently shuttled between the minor and major leagues while with New York, appearing in 58 games for the team in 1968 while batting .201.  In June 1969, he was one of five players sent to Montreal for Donn Clendenon (#325), who would go on to win World Series MVP honors for the Mets.  Collins appeared in a career-high 68 games in 1969 between the Mets and Expos, getting occasional starts at second or third base.  His best season in the majors was also his last, as he batted .268 with the Tigers in 1971.  Collins collected 81 hits while batting .209 with six home runs and 34 RBIs in his 201 games in the majors.

Dave Ricketts was a back-up catcher for six seasons in the majors, mostly with the Cardinals.  He appeared a career-high 57 games for the pennant-winning Cardinals in 1967, making 16 starts.  Ricketts made three pinch-hitting appearances in the World Series, won by the Cardinals over the Red Sox in seven games.  He appeared in only 20 games for the Cardinals in 1968, but still served a valuable role as batting practice pitcher and bullpen catcher.  Ricketts was a lifetime .249 hitter with one home run, hit off Pirates reliever Dennis Ribant (#73) on September 4, 1967.  Following his playing days, Ricketts served as a long-time coach for the Pirates (1970-1973) and Cardinals (1974-1975, 1978-1991).  He'd win a second World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1982 as a member of their coaching staff.

Building the Set
December 3, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #597
This was the third of four final cards acquired for our set at The Philly Show, the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  We arrived at the show in a steady rain right after doors opened at 9am, secured our autograph tickets and started walking the floor prior to the arrival of most of the crowd.  My goal for the show was simple:  Find the last four cards needed to complete our 1965 Topps set.  I wrote a full summary of the show in this post over at The Phillies Room.

The first two cards needed to complete our set took a while to find, but I eventually added the Orlando Cepeda (#360) and the Gordy Coleman (#269) cards within the first hour of walking around.  With Cepeda and Coleman out of the way, I turned my attention to the Perez rookie card and the BIG final card needed for our set - Mickey Mantle (#350).  Perez came quickly, as I found a gorgeous version of the card for sale from dealer America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey.  Again looking to bundle that card with another card needed for our 1969 Topps set, I set my sights on the Reggie Jackson rookie card.  What followed was my first of two successful negotiation sessions of the day, as I was able to add both cards for what I deemed to be extremely reasonable (and fair) price.  The Jackson card will find its way under the Christmas tree for Doug, so please keep that one quiet for now.  Three down, one to go.

The Card / Reds Team Set / Mets Team Set / Cardinals Team Set
For the set's seventh and final series, Topps must have realized it needed to squeeze a bunch more players onto its Rookie Stars cards but it was quickly running out of room within the checklist.  This is one of six cards in the high series featuring three players on one Rookie Stars card, and it's one of two such cards featuring players from multiple teams.  Its American League counterpart (#577) features Darold Knowles, Richie Scheinblum and Don Buschhorn.

This is the rookie card for all three players, and it's been reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives (see above) and 2003 Topps Shoebox Collection sets, with Collins and Ricketts omitted.  Collins wouldn't appear on a Topps flagship card again until 1969.

1965 Season - Perez
Perez spent the season in a platoon at first base with Gordy Coleman (#289), making 66 starts overall to Coleman's 87.  In 104 games, Perez batted .260 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. 

Phillies Career - Perez
Perez was released by the Red Sox on November 1, 1982, and signed with the Phillies on January 31, 1983.  Rose had been with the club since 1979, helping the team win its first World Championship in 1980, and Morgan had been acquired from the Giants in mid-December 1982.  With the three former teammates reunited, and an aging core of veterans starting for the Phillies, the 1983 squad was dubbed the Wheeze Kids, playing off the Whiz Kids nickname for the 1950 team.  Perez, now 41 years old, was with the Phillies for only the one season, appearing in 91 games and batting .241 with six home runs and 43 RBIs.

He was the club's opening day first baseman, with Rose moving temporarily to right field.  Perez started 63 games in total at first base, and also made two starts at first during the 1983 World Series against the Orioles.  Overall he batted .273 (3 for 11) in the postseason, as the Phillies fell in five games.  Coming full circle, he was sold to the Reds on December 6, 1983.

1966 Topps #72

1970 Topps #380

1976 Topps #325

1983 Topps Traded #85T

2002 Topps #303

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Perez
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #581
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25):  1965-1986, 1993, 2002, 2010
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Heritage Then and Now #TAN-PT

1,014 - Perez non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/5/22.

Sources - Perez:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

1965 Season - Collins
Collins was a September call-up, making his major league debut on September 1st and entering the game as pinch-hitter in the game's third inning.  He'd bat .174 (4 for 23) for the Mets in 11 games.

1965 Season - Ricketts
Ricketts bounced around a bit during the season, spending time with three different AAA teams in Indianapolis (White Sox affiliate), Toledo (Yankees affiliate) and Jacksonville (Cardinals affiliate).  He'd play in 11 games for the Cardinals in early April and mid-August through the end of the season, making eight starts behind the plate.  Ricketts batted .241 (7 for 29) in his limited action in St. Louis.

1969 Topps #127

1970 Topps #707

1971 Topps #553

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Collins
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #581
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1965, 1969-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1971 Topps #553

16 - Collins non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/6/22.

Sources - Collins:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Ricketts
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #581
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1965, 1967-1970, 1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1990 Topps TV St. Louis Cardinals #4

34 - Ricketts non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/6/22.

Sources - Ricketts:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

1967 Topps #589

1968 Topps #46

1969 Topps #232

1970 Topps #626

1973 Topps #517

Previous Card:  #580 Jimmie Hall - Minnesota Twins

Next Card:  #582 Bob Schmidt - New York Yankees

#360 Orlando Cepeda - San Francisco Giants

Orlando Manuel Cepeda
San Francisco Giants
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  September 17, 1937, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1958-1966; St. Louis Cardinals 1966-1968; Atlanta Braves 1969-1972; Oakland Athletics 1972; Boston Red Sox 1973; Kansas City Royals 1974
Hall of Fame Induction:  1999

Nicknamed "Cha Cha" and "the Baby Bull," Orlando Cepeda was one of the most feared sluggers of his era, earning a spot on 11 All-Star teams and winning MVP honors in 1967.  At just 20 years old, Cepeda was the opening day first baseman in the Giants' first game in San Francisco in 1958, and his stellar season would lead to unanimous Rookie of the Year honors.  He batted .312 while leading the league with 38 doubles, finishing second on his team behind Willie Mays (#250) with 25 home runs and tying Mays for the team lead with 96 RBIs.  Cepeda would have one of his best seasons in 1961, batting .311 while leading the league with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs - both career bests.  Traded to the Cardinals in May 1966 for pitcher Ray Sadecki (#230), Cepeda proved to a catalyst for St. Louis, leading them to a World Championship in 1967.  He was the unanimous choice for the league's MVP.

Dealt again, this time to Braves before the start of the 1969 season, Cepeda helped lead Atlanta to the first N.L. West division title.  He moved to the American League for the 1973 season, winning the first Outstanding Designated Hitter Award with the Red Sox.  He retired with 2,351 hits, a lifetime .297 batting average, 379 home runs and 1,365 RBIs.  Personal problems kept him away from the game for a bit, but he'd come back to the Giants as a scout and team ambassador in 1987.  Cepeda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Veterans Committee, with the Giants retiring his #30 that same year.

Building the Set
December 3, 2022 from The Philly Show (Oldfootball.com - Mercersburg, PA) - Card #595
This was the first of four final cards acquired for our set at The Philly Show, the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  We arrived at the show in a steady rain right after doors opened at 9am, secured our autograph tickets and started walking the floor prior to the arrival of most of the crowd.  My goal for the show was simple:  Find the last four cards needed to complete our 1965 Topps set.  I wrote a full summary of the show in this post over at The Phillies Room.

The first two cards needed to complete our set took a while to find, but I eventually added this Cepeda card and the Gordy Coleman (#289) card within the first hour of walking around.  Cepeda was found in box of commons and semi-stars at the table hosted by A.J. Firestone of oldfootball.com, from Mercersburg.  I didn't balk at the $12 price tag, gladly paying the price and getting the Cepeda back from the dealer in a sandwich bag.  One down, three to go.

The Card / Giants Team Set
Cepeda first appeared in the set on the Home Run Leaders card (#4) with teammates Mays and Jim Ray Hart (#395).  The back of the card highlights his Rookie of the Year win in 1958, even though the cartoon shows him receiving an MVP award.  His average of .304 was indeed tops on the Giants in 1964, with Mays behind him at .296.  Mays was second in doubles as well with 21 to Cepeda's 27.  The card is reprinted, albeit in a stylized painted format, in the 2001 Topps Gallery Heritage insert set.

1965 Season
Chronic knee problems plagued Cepeda throughout his career, and in 1965 he was limited to just 33 games throughout the season.  He appeared in seven games through early May, mainly as a pinch-hitter, before landing on the disabled list.  Returning in mid-August, Cepeda was again used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter, making five starts all season.  He batted .176 with a home run and five RBIs in the worst season of his big league career.  Cepeda had offseason knee surgery, making a successful comeback in 1966.

1958 Topps #343

1961 Topps #435

1964 Topps #390

1967 Topps #20

1974 Topps #83

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1958 Topps #343
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18):  1958-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-OC

1,075 - Cepeda non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/3/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #359 Ken Johnson - Houston Astros

Next Card:  #361 5th Series Checklist 353-429

#300 Sandy Koufax - Los Angeles Dodgers

Sanford Koufax
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  December 30, 1935, Brooklyn, NY
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent, December 14, 1954
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1955-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1966
Hall of Fame Induction:  1972

On Sandy Koufax's biography page on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, the first quote about the all-time great lefty comes from former Phillies great Richie Ashburn:  "Either he throws the fastest ball I've ever seen, or I'm going blind."

In a 12-year career shortened by arthritis in his left arm and Koufax's desire to retire at the top of his game, the Hall of Famer won the N.L. Cy Young Award in 1963, 1965 and in his final season, 1966.  He also won N.L. MVP honors in 1963, a season in which he went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, 20 complete games, 11 shutouts and led the league with 306 strikeouts.  Koufax was a six-time All-Star and helped the Dodgers to three World Series titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965.

October 14, 1965 - World Series Game 7

He threw four no-hitters including a perfect game on September 9, 1965.  Despite a relatively short career, his 2,396 strikeouts at the time of his retirement ranked seventh all-time, second only to Warren Spahn's (#205) 2,583 among left-handers.  One of the top Jewish athletes in American sports, Koufax's decision to not pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series on Yom Kippur brought attention to the conflict between the sport and his personal religious beliefs.

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility, Koufax became the youngest player enshrined at the age of 36.  His #32 was retired by the Dodgers that same year.  Following his playing days, Koufax continued to work for the Dodgers as a minor league coach, a pitching instructor and an overall goodwill ambassador for the game.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.

Building the Set
October 17, 2022 from Tomball, TX - Card #594
I'm composing this post on a cloudy day in mid-November, appreciating that for the first time since March, I'm about to be completely caught up with posting cards we've added to our 1965 Topps set.  We had added 102 cards at The Philly Show in early March, and creating posts for each of those cards had taken me until mid-October.  There were eight more cards added piecemeal between April and September, reducing the number of cards needed for our complete set down to five.

In early October, with the Phillies improbably in the postseason and about to go on a month-long journey that would culminate with a trip to the World Series, I received an e-mail announcing a sale in the online store for The Battersbox, located in Tomball, Texas.  I had had my eye on this Koufax card for quite some time, and I had assumed this would be the second to last card added to our set, with just the Mickey Mantle (#350) card remaining.  Riding the high of the good vibes brought on by the Phillies, and realizing it had been over a month since I had added any vintage cards, I happily added this card to my cart along with two cards to be added to my not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.

I had intended for this Koufax card to be a Christmas present to myself from my family.  But impatience won here, and rather than see this card sit by itself on my project table for the next month, it's entering the collection and its spot in the set's binder a little over a month sooner.  In early December, Doug and I will attend the next Philly Show, and I'll be laser focused on the final four cards needed - Mantle, the Tony Perez rookie card (#581), Orlando Cepeda (#360) and the surprise of the quartet, Gordy Coleman (#289).

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
All of Koufax's Topps flagship cards are iconic, including this one.  This is his second appearance in the set, as he shares a 1964 National League ERA Leaders card (#8) with Don Drysdale (#260).  The card has been reproduced a few times, first within the 1990 Topps set (see below) as part of the Turn Back the Clock subset.

1965 Season
In his penultimate season, at the age of just 29, Koufax enjoyed one of his three best seasons to go along with his Cy Young/MVP winning season of 1963 and his final season of 1966.  Koufax was 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA in 43 appearances, leading the league in wins, ERA, complete games (27), innings pitched (335 2/3) and strikeouts (382).  He won his second of three Cy Young awards and finished second in the MVP voting behind Willie Mays.

His 382 strikeouts blew past the modern-era record of 349, held by Rube Waddell since 1904, and Koufax's mark would be broken in 1973 by Nolan Ryan (383).  As mentioned above, Koufax threw a perfect game on September 9th against the Cubs, striking out 14 batters.  It was the eighth perfect game in major league history, and Koufax's fourth no-hitter.  He famously declined to pitch Game 1 of the World Series in order to observe the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur.  Pitching in Games 2, 5 and 7, Koufax threw two complete game shutouts as his Dodgers won the Series, and Koufax would take World Series MVP honors.

1955 Topps #123

1959 Topps #163

1963 Topps #210

1966 Topps #100

1990 Topps #665

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #123
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1955-1967, 1975, 1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Diamond Kings #71

1,735 - Koufax non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/22.

Sources:  
1956 Topps Blog

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card:  #299 Jerry Zimmerman - Minnesota Twins

Next Card:  #301 Birdie Tebbetts MG - Cleveland Indians