1970 Topps #516 Yankees Rookie Stars - John Ellis / Jim Lyttle
On this card: John Ellis, Jim Lyttle
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
Ellis opened 1970 as the Yankees' cleanup-hitting first baseman, after a .358 spring that won him the James P. Dawson Award. He started 4-for-44, then hit .286 the rest of the way. He finished at .248 with 7 home runs and 29 RBIs. His Rookie Stars card, #516, pairs him with Jim Lyttle, both pictured as Yankees; it is the first card for each man. John Ellis caught and played first base for the Yankees, Indians and Rangers from 1969 to 1981, hitting .262 with 69 home runs. He was Cleveland's first designated hitter in 1973 and later founded a Connecticut foundation for cancer patients.
Lyttle hit .310 in 87 games for the 1970 Yankees, up from .181 in his 1969 debut season. He collected 39 hits in 126 at-bats and stole three bases. Card #516, a fifth-series issue, is a Yankees Rookies card shared with John Ellis, the rookie card for both men. Outfielder Jim Lyttle hit .248 in 391 games for the Yankees, White Sox, Expos and Dodgers between 1969 and 1976, then starred in Japan, winning four Golden Gloves and a Japan Series MVP award with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
Sources: Wikipedia (John Ellis) · Wikipedia (Jim Lyttle) · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 188 | 0 | 23 | 87 | 49 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #399 New York Yankees
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- #70 1969 American League Pitching Leaders
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- #142 Fritz Peterson
- #167 Bill Burbach
- #189 Yankees 1970 Rookie Stars
- #219 Jerry Kenney
- #253 Ron Woods
- #273 Ralph Houk
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #516 card?
It is card #516 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Ellis and Jim Lyttle. 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 #516 a rookie card?
Yes - #516 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: John Ellis and Jim Lyttle.
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.