1970 Topps #51 Bob Christian
About Bob Christian
Christian finished 1969 at .217 with 3 home runs in 39 games for the White Sox and started in left field for much of September. Manager Don Gutteridge said the shy outfielder "doesn't say much, but he's been making noise with the bat lately," and Christian twice dove into the stands to make catches. Card #51, from the first series, pictures him with Chicago. He opened 1970 as a pinch hitter and occasional left fielder, playing 12 games for Chicago before returning to Tucson.
Bob Christian was an outfielder who signed with the Yankees out of Grossmont College in 1964, then spent four seasons climbing through the Detroit farm system before a .319 season with the 1968 Toledo Mud Hens earned him a September call-up. He appeared in three games for the pennant-winning Tigers, collecting a double off Camilo Pascual for his only major league hit that year, before Detroit sent him to the White Sox on September 30, 1968, as partial payment for reliever Don McMahon. Christian played parts of the 1969 and 1970 seasons in Chicago's outfield. He hit his first career home run off future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and later delivered a two-run pinch homer in a ninth-inning rally that beat the Angels. His final major league game came in May 1970. He then played two seasons in Japan for the Toei Flyers and died of leukemia in 1974 at age 28.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 150 | 3 | 23 | 87 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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
Team card: #501 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #18 Carlos May
- #35 Joe Horlen
- #91 Rich Morales
- #123 Don Gutteridge
- #146 Danny Murphy
- #180 Tommy John
- #217 Ron Hansen
- #239 Ken Berry
- #263 Duane Josephson
- #274 Gerry Arrigo
- #299 Buddy Bradford
- #315 Luis Aparicio
- #342 Wilbur Wood
- #368 Ed Herrmann
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #51 card?
It is card #51 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Christian of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.