1969 Topps #159 Jerry Adair
About Jerry Adair
Card #159, a second-series issue, shows Adair with the expansion Kansas City Royals, who spent the 51st pick of the American League expansion draft on him after a lean 1968: a .216 average in 74 games spent filling in at four infield positions for Boston. He batted second in the first game the Royals ever played, on April 8, 1969, and drove in the new franchise's first run with a single that scored Lou Piniella, who had doubled ahead of him.
Kenneth Jerry Adair, born December 17, 1936, in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, was a sure-handed infielder across 13 major league seasons, 1958-1970, with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, before a 1971 season in Japan with the Hankyu Braves. A two-sport star at Oklahoma State under basketball coach Hank Iba, he signed with Baltimore for a $40,000 bonus and debuted the same day, September 2, 1958. Called the Iceman in high school for his composure and Casper the Friendly Ghost in the majors, he made his name with the glove: 458 consecutive errorless chances at second base over 89 games in 1964 and 1965, a major league record until Manny Trillo passed it in 1982, and a career .985 fielding mark that bettered Hall of Famers Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan and Bill Mazeroski. He coached Oakland through all three of its championship seasons, 1972-1974, then the California Angels. He died of liver cancer on May 31, 1987, in Tulsa at 50.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 204 | 3 | 43 | 105 | 35 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
More Kansas City Royals cards:
- #29 Dave Morehead
- #49 Royals 1969 Rookie Stars
- #71 Steve Whitaker
- #93 Joe Foy
- #116 Chuck Harrison
- #137 Wally Bunker
- #211 Galen Cisco
- #239 Bob Taylor
- #258 Jackie Hernandez
- #279 Roger Nelson
- #298 Dave Nicholson
- #352 Paul Schaal
- #376 Royals 1969 Rookie Stars
- #396 Jim Campanis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #159 card?
It is card #159 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jerry Adair of the Kansas City Royals.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
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 2026-10-12.