1969 Topps #619 Royals Rookie Stars - Bill Butler / Pat Kelly / Juan Rios
On this card: Bill Butler, Pat Kelly, Juan Rios
About this card
This is one of the 52 Rookie Stars cards in the 1969 Topps set, each carrying two or three young players under a club or league title. A Rookie Stars card is a rookie card only for the players pictured who had no earlier Topps flagship card - the rookie-card answer on each card names them.
The story on this card
Butler's rookie season anchored the pitching staff of the expansion Kansas City Royals, where he started 29 of his 34 appearances and posted a 9-10 record with a 3.90 ERA over 193.2 innings, adding five complete games and four shutouts. His 1969 Topps card is card #619, a high number from the seventh print series, and it is a recognized rookie card. It is a multi-player Rookie Stars card shared with fellow Royals hopefuls Pat Kelly and Juan Rios, all three pictured representing Kansas City on the card. Left-handed pitcher who broke in as a workhorse starter for the expansion Kansas City Royals in 1969, staying in the rotation through 1971 before later pitching for Cleveland and Minnesota through 1977.
Kelly's card is a seventh-series high number, a multi-player Royals Rookie Stars issue shared with Bill Butler and Juan Rios and a recognized rookie card for all three. That season, his first full year after Kansas City selected him in the 1968 expansion draft, Kelly became an everyday player in the franchise's inaugural campaign, starting 106 games in the outfield -- mostly right and center field. Manager Joe Gordon praised his improved bat, and Kelly delivered a .264 average with a career-high 40 stolen bases in 53 attempts, helping anchor the young Royals' outfield. A Philadelphia native whose brother Leroy starred for the Cleveland Browns, Pat Kelly built a 15-year outfield career as a speedy, left-handed hitter and reached one World Series with Baltimore.
1969 Topps #619 is a Rookie Stars card in the set's seventh series, a high number shared by three young infielders: Bill Butler and Pat Kelly of the Kansas City Royals alongside Rios, who split that season between shortstop and second base for the expansion club. It is recognized as his rookie card, issued during the only major league season of his career. Puerto Rican infielder from Mayaguez who played shortstop and second base for the expansion Kansas City Royals in 1969, his only major league season, debuting that April.
Sources: Wikipedia (Bill Butler (pitcher)) · Wikipedia (Pat Kelly (outfielder))
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 361 | 4 | 98 | 191 | 36 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| SGC | 29 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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
- #279 Roger Nelson
- #298 Dave Nicholson
- #352 Paul Schaal
- #376 Royals 1969 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #619 card?
It is card #619 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Butler, Pat Kelly and Juan Rios. This is one of the 52 Rookie Stars cards in the 1969 Topps set, each carrying two or three young players under a club or league title. A Rookie Stars card is a rookie card only for the players pictured who had no earlier Topps flagship card - the rookie-card answer on each card names them.
Is 1969 Topps #619 a rookie card?
Yes - #619 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Bill Butler, Pat Kelly and Juan Rios.
Why is #619 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #589-664 - the scarce end of the set.
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.