1970 Topps #197 N.L. Playoff Game 3 - Ryan Saves the Day!
Pictures a Hall of Famer: Nolan Ryan.
About this card
Cards #195-202 cover the 1969 league playoffs: #195-198 the National League series won by the New York Mets and #199-202 the American League series won by the Baltimore Orioles. The six World Series cards, #305-310, follow later in the set.
The story on this card
Nolan Ryan earned his first postseason victory in Game 3 of the 1969 NLCS, played October 6 at Shea Stadium before 54,195. Gary Gentry, starting on his 23rd birthday, gave up Hank Aaron's two-run first-inning homer and lasted two innings. Orlando Cepeda's two-run shot off Ryan in the fifth put Atlanta back ahead 4-3. In the bottom of that inning Ryan singled with one out and Wayne Garrett homered to make it 5-4 Mets. Ryan pitched seven innings in relief. Ken Boswell had a two-run homer in the fourth and an RBI single later, and Jerry Grote's double and Tommie Agee's single added a run, for a 7-4 win and a three-game sweep that sent New York to its first World Series. Topps #197 in the 1970 Playoffs subset names Ryan and was printed in series 2.
Sources: Wikipedia · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,841 | 2 | 92 | 511 | 436 | 304 | 202 | 290 | 4 |
| SGC | 436 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 95 | 86 | 107 | 104 | 2 |
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: #1 World Champions (New York Mets)
More New York Mets cards:
- #26 Tug McGraw
- #50 Tommie Agee
- #61 1969 National League Batting Leaders
- #69 1969 National League Pitching Leaders
- #83 Don Cardwell
- #99 Bobby Pfeil
- #137 Art Shamsky
- #138 Joe Foy
- #153 Gary Gentry
- #183 Jerry Grote
- #195 N.L. Playoff Game 1 - Seaver Wins Opener!
- #196 N.L. Playoff Game 2 - Mets Show Muscle!
- #198 Mets Celebrate: We're Number One!
- #214 Ken Boswell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #197 card?
It is card #197 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, N.L. Playoff Game 3 - Ryan Saves the Day!. Cards #195-202 cover the 1969 league playoffs: #195-198 the National League series won by the New York Mets and #199-202 the American League series won by the Baltimore Orioles. The six World Series cards, #305-310, follow later in the set.
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.