1970 Topps #539 Phillies Rookie Stars - Dennis Doyle / Larry Bowa
On this card: Dennis Doyle, Larry Bowa
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
Doyle opened 1970 as Philadelphia's regular second baseman, one year after leading the Pacific Coast League in hits at Eugene, and played 112 games at .208. On April 18 his first-inning single was the only hit Mets pitcher Nolan Ryan allowed in a complete game. His #539 Rookie Stars card, from the fifth series, pairs him with Larry Bowa and is a rookie card for both men. Second baseman for the Phillies, Angels and Red Sox from 1970 to 1977. Larry Bowa's double-play partner in the minors and in Philadelphia, he hit .310 for Boston in 1975 and was the only player to hit safely in all seven World Series games.
Bowa reached Philadelphia after hitting .287 with 48 steals for Triple-A Eugene in 1969. He debuted on April 7, 1970, and singled off Ken Holtzman for his first hit on April 9. A mid-April 0-for-21 slump followed. He finished at .250 with 137 hits and 24 steals and placed third in Rookie of the Year voting. His fifth-series rookie card, 1970 Topps #539, paired him with Phillies teammate Dennis Doyle. Larry Bowa was the Phillies' switch-hitting shortstop from 1970 to 1981, a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner who later played for the Cubs and Mets, then managed the Padres and the Phillies.
Sources: Wikipedia (Denny Doyle) · Wikipedia (Larry Bowa) · SABR BioProject (Denny Doyle) · SABR BioProject (Larry Bowa) · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet (1) · Retrosheet (2) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 416 | 0 | 22 | 142 | 126 | 46 | 39 | 38 | 3 |
| SGC | 57 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 3 |
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: #436 Philadelphia Phillies
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- #6 Grant Jackson
- #24 Dick Selma
- #28 Billy Wilson
- #56 Phillies 1970 Rookie Stars
- #90 Tim McCarver
- #125 Deron Johnson
- #149 Billy Champion
- #168 Dave Watkins
- #186 Rick Joseph
- #218 Ron Stone
- #252 Lowell Palmer
- #270 Chris Short
- #288 Larry Hisle
- #302 Jeff James
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #539 card?
It is card #539 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dennis Doyle and Larry Bowa. 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 #539 a rookie card?
Yes - #539 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Dennis Doyle and Larry Bowa.
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.