1970 Topps #139 Rich Nye
About Rich Nye
Nye was pitching winter ball in Venezuela when the Cubs traded him to the Cardinals for outfielder Charlie Day; the Cubs did not tell him, and he learned of it from his mother-in-law. His 1970 card, #139 from the second series, shows him with the Cardinals. He pitched eight regular-season innings for St. Louis before the Cardinals sold him to the Montreal Expos in mid-May, and he finished 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA in 14 games, the last on September 2.
Rich Nye pitched five big-league seasons, 1966-1970, as a left-hander for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos, finishing 26-31 with a 3.71 ERA. A civil engineering graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, he broke into the majors with the Cubs in September 1966 and had a strong rookie season in 1967 under manager Leo Durocher. Arm trouble shortened his career, and he retired after the 1970 season. Nye later earned a veterinary degree from the University of Illinois and became a specialist in avian and exotic-animal medicine, co-founding Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital in Westchester, Illinois in 1985, one of the first all-exotic veterinary practices in the country. He served as a charter member and later president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians. He also spent time as a commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange between his playing days and his veterinary training.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 167 | 8 | 40 | 93 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #139 card?
It is card #139 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rich Nye of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.