1962 Topps #403 Chet Nichols
About Chet Nichols
The 1962 Topps card, #403, sits in the fifth series, another ordinary-series number rather than a high, and it shows Nichols in his age-31 season with the Red Sox. He was one half of a bullpen pair that spring with right-hander Dick Radatz; the two finished April having split roughly 16 innings between them without allowing an earned run. Nichols went 1-1 over 29 appearances, finishing 13 games, with a 3.00 earned run average in 57 innings, 33 strikeouts and 22 walks. A back spasm cost him three weeks in August. His lone win came in his only start of the year, a 9-5 decision over the Angels on August 14.
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
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 267 | 0 | 19 | 145 | 74 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #403 card?
It is card #403 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chet Nichols of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-03.