The 1964 Topps baseball card #125 features one of the game’s most imposing power hitters of the 1960s, Frank Howard. Standing at a towering 6’7″ and weighing in around 250 pounds, Howard was an intimidating presence in the batter’s box who used his incredible size and strength to hit prodigious home runs throughout his career.
The card depicts Howard in his usual intimidating stance, glaring out at the pitcher from under the brim of his batting helmet. In the background is a generic baseball field, with no identifying marks of any team. The 1964 season was Howard’s first with the new Washington Senators franchise after they moved from Minnesota.
After breaking into the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1960, Howard was traded to the Senators in 1963. He became the face of the franchise as the Senators attempted to establish a fan base in their new city. Howard responded by having the best season of his career in 1964. He led the American League with 43 home runs while batting .288 with 103 RBIs. His outstanding power numbers were a rare bright spot for the last place Senators that season.
Howard’s mammoth home run total in 1964 remains tied for the second highest single season total in Senators/Washington Nationals franchise history. Only Jose Canseco has hit more home runs in a season for the Washington ballclub when he slugged 46 dingers in 1999. Howard’s outstanding power display was recognized with his lone All-Star selection and finish as runner up in the AL MVP voting, behind the Minnesota Twins’ Dave Boswell.
The back of Howard’s ’64 Topps card contains statistics from the 1963 and 1964 seasons along with a brief career recap. It notes he debuted as a September callup with the Dodgers in 1960 before becoming the Senators regular first baseman the next season. Howard’s career was off to a slow start with Los Angeles, as he hit just .257 in limited playing time his first two years. His prodigious power was still developing, as evidenced by his modest totals of 8 home runs and 32 RBIs in 1962.
However, Howard began to fulfill his massive home run hitting potential after being traded to the Senators before the 1963 season. In his first full season in Washington, he belted 27 home runs with 83 RBIs and boosted his batting average to .266. His breakout season was 1964, when he led the league in homers and placed second in MVP voting. The bio on the back of the card proclaimed Howard “One of AL’s leading sluggers” after his monster power display.
While pitching was the Senators’ weakness, Howard provided nearly all of their offensive firepower. His towering home runs – often estimated at 450 feet or more – were one of the only forms of consistent entertainment for dwindling Senators crowds. Howard became a fan favorite in Washington thanks to memorable blasts like a 535-foot shot at Griffith Stadium that was measured as the second-longest home run in history at that point.
At just 27 years of age in 1964, Howard seemed poised for continued stardom. But injuries and a new weaker Senators team beginning in 1965 prevented him from achieving his full superstar potential. He still averaged nearly 30 home runs and 90 RBIs per season through 1971, when he was shockingly traded midseason by the Senators back to the Dodgers. Injuries limited his effectiveness the rest of his career, which ended after the 1980 season split between the Washington Nationals, Dodgers, and Detroit Tigers.
In the end, Howard fell just short of 300 career home runs with 290. But his intimidating presence in the batter’s box produced nearly 1,900 hits, nearly 1,100 RBIs, and 1,119 runs scored in 18 seasons. For a brief period in the 1960s, he was one of the most feared sluggers in baseball and the lone reason for fans to attend Senators games during their final seasons in Washington. At the time of this 1964 Topps card, Howard’s massive talents were abundantly clear and he stood out as the lone All-Star for a sad-sack Senators ballclub.
In summary, Frank Howard’s 1964 Topps baseball card #125 memorializes one of the most awesomely powerful hitters of his era. At the height of his powers, he was nearly a one-man team for a last place Senators squad. His prodigious home runs made him a fan favorite and one of the most memorable players from Washington’s early years. While injuries prevented him reaching his full potential, “Hondo’s” dominance during the mid-1960s made him one of the most intimidating sluggers of that power-hitting decade.
