1969 Topps #43 Joe Niekro
About Joe Niekro
Card #43 comes from the first print series and pictures Niekro with the Chicago Cubs. He opened the 1969 season with Chicago before an April 24 trade, also involving Gary Ross and Frankie Libran, sent him to the expansion San Diego Padres for Dick Selma. Splitting the year between the two clubs, Niekro went a combined 8-18 with a 3.70 ERA over 221.1 innings, tying Al Santorini for the Padres' team lead in wins.
Joe Niekro pitched 22 big-league seasons from 1967 to 1988, breaking in with the Chicago Cubs before stops with the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. He found his greatest success in Houston, where he mastered the knuckleball his father had taught him and his older brother Phil, becoming the first Astros pitcher to win 20 games in back-to-back seasons (1979 and 1980). His 1979 campaign brought his only All-Star selection, a league-leading 21 wins, and the TSN Pitcher of the Year award. He finished his career with 221 wins, and he and Phil combined for a major-league record 539 victories by a pair of brothers. Niekro also reached the 1987 World Series with Minnesota. He died in 2006 following a brain aneurysm; his family's foundation now funds research into that condition.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 369 | 0 | 12 | 149 | 112 | 44 | 23 | 29 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 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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- #12 National League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #43 card?
It is card #43 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Niekro of the Chicago Cubs.
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.