1970 Topps #621 Braves Rookie Stars - Mike McQueen / Darrell Evans / Rick Kester
On this card: Mike McQueen, Darrell Evans, Rick Kester
About this card
This is one of the forty Rookie Stars cards, each showing two or three rookies from one club; #654 (National League) and #702 (American League) each mix three clubs. A Rookie Stars card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #36, #74, #109, #154, #267, #317, #429, #573, #669 and #683 one of them had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
The story on this card
McQueen began 1970 at Triple-A Richmond and rejoined Atlanta in early June, working mostly in relief. He went 1-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 22 games, moved into the rotation in September and closed with a complete-game win over the Reds. His card is #621, a Rookie Stars triple from the sixth series that pairs him with Darrell Evans and Rick Kester, all three Braves and all three on their first cards. Left-hander for the Atlanta Braves (1969-72) and Cincinnati Reds (1974) who went 5-11 in 73 games. The youngest player in the majors in 1969 at age 19, he lost 1973 to a hip dislocation from a December 1972 car collision.
Evans shares this Rookie Stars card, #621 from the sixth series, with fellow Atlanta prospects Mike McQueen and Rick Kester, and it is a rookie card for all three. He got into 12 games for the Braves in 1970 and hit .318, but spent most of the year at Richmond, where he drove in 83 runs in 120 games. Manager Lum Harris kept him in the minors over concerns about his fielding. Darrell Evans played third and first base for the Braves, Giants and Tigers from 1969 to 1989, hitting 414 home runs. He led the majors in walks twice, won the 1984 World Series, and led the majors with 40 homers in 1985 at age 38.
Kester made 15 appearances for the Braves in 1970, all in relief. He threw 32 1/3 innings with 20 strikeouts and a 5.57 ERA. His Rookie Stars card, #621 in the sixth series, puts him with Mike McQueen and Darrell Evans, all three printed with the Atlanta Braves. Rick Kester, an Iola, Kansas, right-hander, pitched in relief for the Atlanta Braves from 1968 to 1970, working 40 2/3 innings over three seasons and finishing with a 5.98 ERA.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mike McQueen) · Wikipedia (Darrell Evans) · Wikipedia (Rick Kester) · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 636 | 9 | 87 | 267 | 151 | 60 | 28 | 32 | 2 |
| SGC | 63 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 18 | 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: #472 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #17 Hoyt Wilhelm
- #48 Gil Garrido
- #65 1969 National League Home Run Leaders
- #69 1969 National League Pitching Leaders
- #86 Lum Harris
- #105 Tony Gonzalez
- #122 George Stone
- #145 Rico Carty
- #160 Phil Niekro
- #171 Jim Nash
- #172 Braves 1970 Rookie Stars
- #206 Clete Boyer
- #232 Bob Didier
- #278 Tommie Aaron
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #621 card?
It is card #621 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike McQueen, Darrell Evans and Rick Kester. This is one of the forty Rookie Stars cards, each showing two or three rookies from one club; #654 (National League) and #702 (American League) each mix three clubs. A Rookie Stars card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #36, #74, #109, #154, #267, #317, #429, #573, #669 and #683 one of them had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
Is 1970 Topps #621 a rookie card?
Yes - #621 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Mike McQueen, Darrell Evans and Rick Kester.
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.