1963 began a 4-year stretch of dominance by Sandy Koufax the likes of which have rarely been approached by a pitcher. From 1963 through 1967 (which ended up being the final year of his Hall of Fame career), Koufax led the league in wins three times, in starts once, in complete games twice, in shutouts twice, in innings pitched twice, and in strikeouts three times. He won 3 Cy Young Awards, finished Top-2 in MVP voting three times (winning it once), and led his team to 3 NL Pennants and 2 World Series titles, winning World Series MVP in each of the two seasons the Dodgers won. Oh, and he led the National League in ERA in each of the four seasons, too.

Card #1 from the 1964 Topps set commemorates the ERA title Koufax won in 1963, beating out Chicago's Dick Ellsworth (2.10) and Pittsburgh's Bob Friend (2.34) with a 1.88 mark - the best of his career at that point. This example has fantastic centering with sharp corners and crisp edges. A little snow on the front, and the reverse being centered slightly south on the canvas keep this card from grading even higher than it already has.

Out of the 991 total examples of this 1964 Topps card which PSA has ever graded, only twenty-four have received a higher grade than the NM-MT 8 offered here of the 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders.