1965 Topps #431 Cards Rookie Stars - Nelson Briles / Wayne Spiezio
On this card: Nelson Briles, Wayne Spiezio
About this card
This is one of the 55 Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, each picturing two to four young players - 126 players in all - under a team banner, except #577 and #581, which carry American League and National League banners over players from three clubs. Joe Morgan (#16), Steve Carlton (#477), Jim (Catfish) Hunter (#526) and Tony Perez (#581) make their Topps debuts on these cards.
The story on this card
Briles debuts in Topps as one half of card #431, 'Cardinals Rookie Stars,' a series-6 issue shared with fellow prospect Wayne Spiezio. It followed his first professional season at Double-A Tulsa, where the Santa Clara University product went 11-6 with a 2.79 ERA and 132 strikeouts, after Cardinals scout Bill Sayers signed him for a reported bonus near $40,000-50,000 that forced St. Louis to carry him on its 1965 major league roster. Nelson Briles was a right-handed Cardinals-Pirates pitcher who won two World Series titles, going 19-11 in his 1968 career year with St. Louis and beating Baltimore with a two-hit complete game in Game 5 of the 1971 Series.
Card back reports Spiezio's rookie 1964 season with St. Louis, where he appeared in a dozen games, all as a pinch-hitter, down the stretch of the Cardinals' pennant run. Card 431 is his rookie card, a Rookie Stars card from the set's sixth series shared with Nelson Briles; the card prints his name as Wayne Spiezio. Spiezio opened 1965 with the Cardinals after a strong spring training but was optioned back to the minors in mid-April after just 10 games, playing out the year at Jacksonville while nursing a string of injuries. Third baseman who rode the bench on three Cardinals pennant winners before finally starting every day for the expansion San Diego Padres, delivering that franchise's first hit and home run.
Sources: Wikipedia (Nelson Briles) · Wikipedia (Ed Spiezio) · SABR BioProject (Nelson Briles) · SABR BioProject (Ed Spiezio) · Baseball Almanac (Nelson Briles)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 279 | 0 | 23 | 118 | 64 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 3 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
Team card: #57 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #6 National League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #12 National League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #28 Barney Schultz
- #43 Mike Shannon
- #78 Dal Maxvill
- #100 Ken Boyer
- #116 Cards 1965 Rookie Stars
- #132 World Series Game #1 - Cards Take Opener
- #135 World Series Game #4 - Boyer's Grand-Slam
- #136 World Series Game #5 - 10th Inning Triumph
- #138 World Series Game #7 - Gibson Wins Finale
- #139 World Series - The Cards Celebrate
- #154 Bob Humphreys
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #431 card?
It is card #431 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Nelson Briles and Wayne Spiezio. This is one of the 55 Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, each picturing two to four young players - 126 players in all - under a team banner, except #577 and #581, which carry American League and National League banners over players from three clubs. Joe Morgan (#16), Steve Carlton (#477), Jim (Catfish) Hunter (#526) and Tony Perez (#581) make their Topps debuts on these cards.
Is 1965 Topps #431 a rookie card?
Yes - #431 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Nelson Briles and Wayne Spiezio.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, 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 2026-10-11.