1966 Topps #243 Nelson Briles
About Nelson Briles
Card #243, a series-3 solo issue, reports Briles' 1965 rookie season with St. Louis: a 3-3 record, four saves and a 3.50 ERA across 37 appearances, all but two of them in relief. Used early as a mop-up man by manager Red Schoendienst, he made his first big-league appearance that April against the Cubs and picked up his first career win in relief against the Giants in July, the bonus rule having forced St. Louis to keep him on the roster straight out of Double-A.
Nelson Briles pitched 14 major league seasons (1965-1978) as a right-hander, breaking in with the St. Louis Cardinals after Santa Clara University and scout Bill Sayers signed him for a reported bonus near $40,000-50,000. Used mostly in relief as a Cardinals rookie in 1965, he moved into the rotation in July 1967 when ace Bob Gibson broke his leg, won nine straight decisions and finished 14-5 with a 2.43 ERA, the National League's best winning percentage that year. He started and won Game 3 of the 1967 World Series over Boston, then set career highs of 19 wins, 141 strikeouts and 13 complete games in 1968 as St. Louis repeated as National League champions. Traded to Pittsburgh in 1971, he capped that season with a two-hit complete game over Baltimore in World Series Game 5, putting Pittsburgh ahead 3-2 in a World Series it went on to win. He also pitched for Kansas City, Texas and Baltimore before retiring in 1979 with a 129-112 record, 3.44 ERA and 1,163 strikeouts across 452 games. Briles later worked in Pirates broadcasting and as the club's Director of Corporate Sales; he died of a heart attack in 2005 while playing in the Pirates' annual alumni golf outing.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 258 | 1 | 33 | 148 | 49 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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. Where SGC registers no separate row for a variation state, its slabs of that card are listed under the base state.
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Related cards
Team card: #379 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #7 Tracy Stallard
- #26 Ray Sadecki
- #60 Curt Flood
- #76 Red Schoendienst
- #91 Bob Uecker
- #103 Dick Groat
- #125 Lou Brock
- #137 Pat Corrales
- #142 Don Dennis
- #163 Tito Francona
- #179 Cardinals 1966 Rookie Stars
- #206 Alvin Jackson
- #225 National League 1965 Strikeout Leaders
- #275 Tim McCarver
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #243 card?
It is card #243 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Nelson Briles of the St. Louis Cardinals.
How many cards are in the 1966 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 613 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no number used twice, and 14 cards carry catalogued print variations - five checklists, the trade and sold statement backs, the three-state #43 Don Landrum, three team-card dot pairs and the #161 Jerry Lumpe white streak - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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.