(LOT 265)
1965 Topps #477 Steve Carlton Rookie Card PSA 10 GEM MINT - HIGHEST GRADED EXAMPLE!
Presented here is one of the toughest post-war PSA 10 GEM MINT Hall of Fame rookie cards to locate, a breathtaking 1965 Topps #477 Steve Carlton gem. Carlton's undisputed inaugural card, of the nearly 6,400 PSA encapsulated examples, it is joined by a paltry six other specimens as the finest of its kind! Nicknamed "Lefty", Steve Carlton is one of the most underrated pitchers in MLB history, with his 329 wins, 4,136 strikeouts (4th all-time) and four Cy Young Awards easily placing him as one of baseball's greatest all-time southpaws. After posting his first 20-win season in 1971 with the Cardinals, Carlton was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies before the start of the 1972 campaign, and who could ever forget "Lefty's" miraculous '72 season. The hard throwing southpaw utilized his blazing fastball and filthy slider to win nearly HALF of the Philadelphia Phillies games! Yes folks, that is no misprint because Carlton's incredible 27 victories accounted for a staggering 46% of the Phillies 59 wins. His lengthy 24-year career began in 1965 with St. Louis when he pitched 25 innings, struck out 21 batters and posted a fine 2.52 E.R.A., a bona fide sign of the spectacular career this 20-year-old rookie sensation was about to embark on.

The prestigious Topps Chewing Gum Company awarded Carlton with subject #477 in one of the later series of the prestigious 1965 set, and it is this Cooperstown worthy "10" masterpiece that we now offer, somehow defying father-time over the past 57 years. Stunning to say the least, the portrait images of rookies Steve Carlton and by-gone hurler Fritz Ackley are immaculate, emanating sparkling hues and atypically portraying near-perfect centering between four blinding white borders. Spot on clarity and contrast, sharp right-angled corner tips, scintillating surfaces, and a gleaming obverse side complete this remarkable Carlton marvel, with the last PSA 10 offering fetching $83K in November 2021. Seldom surfacing for the taking, the extremely low "Pop 7" count places it as one of the tougher PSA 10 post-1960 Hall of Fame rookie cards extant, with this extremely significant memento of a youthful looking Steve Carlton truly meriting a final resting place in any momentous rookie card collection!

MIN BID $20,000