1969 Topps #173 White Sox Rookie Stars - Bob Christian / Gerry Nyman
On this card: Bob Christian, Gerry Nyman
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
Card #173, part of print series 2, is a Rookie Stars subset issue shared with Gerry Nyman and pictures Christian with the Chicago White Sox. A six-month Army Reserve stint delayed his 1969 season; after returning in late May he spent time with Triple-A Tucson before rejoining Chicago's outfield when Buddy Bradford went into the National Guard, hitting his first major league home run off Jim Palmer on June 14 and closing the season with a ten-game hitting streak in September. An outfielder who reached the majors with the 1968 pennant-winning Tigers and Chicago White Sox before finishing his career in Japan; he died of leukemia at 28.
Nyman opened his age-26 season with the White Sox by throwing a complete-game shutout in his first start of 1969, mirroring the feat he'd pulled off as a rookie the year before. He made 20 appearances, 10 as a starter, going 4-4 with a 5.29 ERA across 64.2 innings, and also spent time with Tucson in the minors that year. His 1969 Topps card, #173, is a recognised rookie card shared with Bob Christian in the multi-player Rookie Stars subset, part of the set's second print series, picturing him with the Chicago White Sox. A BYU-trained left-hander who threw complete-game shutouts in his first career starts for the White Sox in both 1968 and 1969, later a longtime minor league pitching coach.
Sources: Wikipedia (Bob Christian) · Wikipedia (Jerry Nyman) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 247 | 2 | 39 | 130 | 55 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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
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- #54 Cisco Carlos
- #75 Luis Aparicio
- #97 Buddy Bradford
- #123 Wilbur Wood
- #155 Pete Ward
- #179 Don Pavletich
- #222 Duane Josephson
- #248 Bob Priddy
- #283 Sandy Alomar
- #309 Walt Williams
- #328 Joe Horlen
- #363 Russ Nixon
- #388 Tom McCraw
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #173 card?
It is card #173 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Christian and Gerry Nyman. 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 #173 a rookie card?
Yes - #173 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Bob Christian and Gerry Nyman.
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.