1961 Topps #301 Chet Nichols
About Chet Nichols
Topps put Nichols at #301 in the fourth series of its 1961 checklist, a straight mid-series number. The Red Sox card catches him in his first full season back in the majors, and it brought the best relief work of his career: 26 games, 12 of them finished, 51 2/3 innings and a 2.09 earned run average with three saves. A broken left hand on June 24 cost him more than five weeks, and after he returned he worked 8 2/3 innings of relief on August 6 to beat Kansas City, 4-2. Oddly for that ERA, he walked 26 and struck out only 20.
Chester Raymond Nichols Jr., a left-hander born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on February 22, 1931, pitched in all or parts of nine major league seasons between 1951 and 1964 for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. He was the son of Chet Nichols Sr., a right-handed pitcher who reached the majors with three National League clubs. As a 20-year-old rookie with the 1951 Boston Braves he led the National League with a 2.88 earned run average, going 11-8, and finished second to Willie Mays in the Rookie of the Year voting. He spent 1952 and 1953 in the United States Army as a quartermaster during the Korean War and never regained that form once the Braves moved to Milwaukee. Released before the 1958 season, he sat out a full year working as a bank teller in Rhode Island, pitched his way back through Triple-A and rejoined the majors with the Red Sox late in 1960. He finished 34-36 with a 3.64 ERA and 266 strikeouts in 189 games, went back to banking in Rhode Island, helped persuade Ben Mondor to rescue the bankrupt Pawtucket Red Sox in 1977, and died of cancer in 1995. The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted him in 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 222 | 0 | 18 | 89 | 75 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #301 card?
It is card #301 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chet Nichols of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-05.