1969 Topps #279 Roger Nelson
About Roger Nelson
Selected first overall by the expansion Kansas City Royals in the 1968 AL expansion draft, Nelson paired with Wally Bunker to anchor the new club's rotation in 1969, working 29 starts to a 3.31 ERA in his first season wearing Kansas City's uniform. His card sits in the third print series.
Roger Nelson was a right-handed pitcher who spent parts of nine major league seasons between 1967 and 1976, finishing with a 29-32 record and a 3.06 ERA. Born in Altadena, California, and listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds, he signed with the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1963 season and worked four years in the minors before a September 1967 call-up. Traded to the Baltimore Orioles that November in a deal that sent Luis Aparicio to Chicago, Nelson pitched one season in Baltimore before the expansion Kansas City Royals chose him with the first pick of the 1968 AL expansion draft. He became a workhorse starter for Kansas City, peaking in 1972 with a 2.08 ERA, 11 wins and 120 strikeouts, then closed that stint by throwing a shutout in the final regular-season game at Municipal Stadium. Dealt to Cincinnati that December, he later returned to the Royals for a brief final season in 1976.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 248 | 4 | 36 | 140 | 50 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 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
- #159 Jerry Adair
- #211 Galen Cisco
- #239 Bob Taylor
- #258 Jackie Hernandez
- #298 Dave Nicholson
- #352 Paul Schaal
- #376 Royals 1969 Rookie Stars
- #396 Jim Campanis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #279 card?
It is card #279 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Roger Nelson 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.