Thursday, October 2, 2008

1964 Topps Baseball #55 Ernie Banks


The first player card for the Chicago Cubs that I have in my 1964 collection is #55 Ernie Banks. This is also one of the first graded 1964 cards that I picked up. As one might expect, the Banks card is one of the most expensive 1964 Cubs to collect. This PSA 6 card carries a book value of about $35.00. A PSA 8 Banks card has a book value of $110.00. I plan to upgrade my Banks card to at least a PSA 8 some time in the future.

By 1964, at age 33, Ernie had been moved to 1st base. Ernie's last game as shortstop was in 1961. Other than a few games in the outfield and at third base after 1961, Ernie played 1st base until he retired after the 1971 season. Ernie's offensive capabilities remained strong , but he also showed that he was a very capable 1st baseman. Ernie played over 1200 games at 1st base with a fielding percentage of .994. In 1964, Ernie batted .264 with 23 home runs and 95 RBIs.

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