1963 Topps #522 1963 Rookie Stars
On this card: Mel Nelson, Gary Peters, Art Quirk, Jim Roland
About this card
The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
The story on this card
Card 522 sits in the seventh series, a high number, and it is Nelson's recognized rookie card even though he had first pitched in the majors back in 1960. The Rookie Stars panel lines up four left-handers, each with a different club: Nelson for the Los Angeles Angels, Gary Peters for the Chicago White Sox, Jim Roland for the Minnesota Twins and Art Quirk for the Washington Senators. Peters took the 1963 American League Rookie of the Year award behind a league-best 2.33 ERA, while Quirk threw his last big league pitch that May 22. The Angels had bought Nelson from St. Louis the previous October; by July they had sent him down to Hawaii in the Pacific Coast League. A San Diego-born left-hander who started out as an outfielder, pitched six big league seasons for the Cardinals, Angels and Twins, and threw a scoreless ninth in the 1968 World Series.
Peters shares this Rookie Stars card with Mel Nelson, Art Quirk and Jim Roland, and it sits at #522 in the seventh series - a genuine high number, and the card the hobby counts as his rookie. Topps caught him at his lowest point: he made the White Sox out of spring training in 1962, was sent back to Triple-A Indianapolis in early May after two rough outings, and finished 8-10, the first losing record of his seven-year professional career. He was out of options going into 1963, so the club had to keep him or expose him to waivers. White Sox lefty who needed seven minor-league seasons and four short call-ups before an emergency start stuck in 1963, the year he led the AL in ERA and won Rookie of the Year; he later tied for the league lead in wins.
Card 522 is a seventh-series high number and a four-pitcher Rookie Stars panel - Quirk with Mel Nelson, Gary Peters and Jim Roland, four clubs squeezed onto one front, White Sox, Angels, Twins and Senators. Catalogs count it a rookie card as well, and it was the last card Topps made of him. Baltimore had sent him to Washington the previous December in a five-player trade that brought back Pete Burnside, another Dartmouth lefty. Mickey Vernon made him a starter candidate, and he beat Detroit in May after leaving trailing 3-1. A May 22 relief appearance left him 1-0 with a 4.29 ERA, and the next day the Senators optioned him to Double-A York and handed his roster spot to Burnside. That 1-0 stands as one of only two undefeated careers in the eleven seasons of the expansion Senators. Dartmouth-educated lefty who pitched seven games for the 1962 Orioles and seven for the 1963 Washington Senators, then spent 35 years building a Connecticut nonprofit serving people with developmental disabilities.
Topps put Roland's first card among the 1963 high numbers: #522, a four-player Rookie Stars panel from the high-number seventh and final series, shared with Mel Nelson, Gary Peters and Art Quirk, and it is his recognized rookie card. In Twins spring training, The Sporting News had tabbed him the best young pitcher in camp. His first big-league win came in relief against the Los Angeles Angels on April 16; five days later, in his first start, he beat the White Sox at Comiskey Park with a 144-pitch three-hit shutout, seven strikeouts and nine walks. Something snapped in his elbow against Kansas City on June 5, and after one-third of an inning six weeks later he was done for the year at 4-1, 2.57. A hard-throwing North Carolina left-hander who battled arm trouble and control problems across a ten-year career as a swingman and long reliever for the Twins, Athletics, Yankees and Rangers, finishing 19-17 with a 3.22 ERA.
Sources: Wikipedia (Gary Peters) · Wikipedia (Art Quirk) · Wikipedia (Jim Roland) · Wikipedia (Mel Nelson) · SABR BioProject (Mel Nelson) · SABR BioProject (Gary Peters) · SABR BioProject (Art Quirk) · SABR BioProject (Jim Roland)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 306 | 0 | 3 | 125 | 118 | 38 | 13 | 7 | 2 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
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.
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Related cards
Team cards: #288 Chicago White Sox, #39 Los Angeles Angels, #162 Minnesota Twins, #131 Washington Senators
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #16 Al Smith
- #35 John Buzhardt
More Los Angeles Angels cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #17 Ryne Duren
- #33 Bo Belinsky
- #57 Billy Moran
- #98 George Thomas
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Ray Moore
- #40 Vic Power
- #75 Bob Allison
More Washington Senators cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #47 Don Lock
- #69 Bud Zipfel
- #94 Bob Schmidt
- #121 Jim Hannan
- #149 Marv Breeding
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #522 card?
It is card #522 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mel Nelson, Gary Peters, Art Quirk and Jim Roland. The twenty Rookie Stars cards, four players each and all titled "1963 Rookie Stars", carry the rookie class - Pete Rose on #537, Willie Stargell on #553, Tony Oliva and Ed Kranepool on #228, Rusty Staub on #544, Bill Freehan on #466 and Dave McNally on #562. Three of them (#169, #208, #544) are rookie cards for only some of the men pictured.
Is 1963 Topps #522 a rookie card?
Yes - #522 is the rookie card of Mel Nelson and Jim Roland. Gary Peters and Art Quirk had already appeared on earlier Topps cards, so it is not their rookie card.
Why is #522 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #512-576 - the last and scarcest run in the set. Price guides often band the highs as #523-576, but the printing break falls between #511 and #512.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: 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.