1971 Topps #581 Roger Nelson
About Roger Nelson
Nelson dealt with injuries in 1970 and 1971. In 1970 he appeared in four games for Kansas City and went 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA. Card #581, a fifth-series issue, shows him with the Royals. In 1971 he pitched 34 innings and finished 0-1 with a 5.29 ERA.
Roger Nelson was a right-handed pitcher who spent parts of nine major league seasons between 1967 and 1976, finishing with a 29-32 record and a 3.06 ERA. Born in Altadena, California, and listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds, he signed with the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1963 season and worked four years in the minors before a September 1967 call-up. Traded to the Baltimore Orioles that November in a deal that sent Luis Aparicio to Chicago, Nelson pitched one season in Baltimore before the expansion Kansas City Royals chose him with the first pick of the 1968 AL expansion draft. He pitched for Kansas City from 1969 through 1972, setting career bests in 1972 with 11 wins and 120 strikeouts alongside a 2.08 ERA. He closed that stint with a 4-0 complete-game shutout of the Texas Rangers on October 4, 1972, the final regular-season game played at Municipal Stadium. He pitched for Cincinnati in 1973 and 1974 and returned to the Royals for a brief final season in 1976.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 211 | 0 | 6 | 74 | 105 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 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: #742 Kansas City Royals
More Kansas City Royals cards:
- #17 Billy Sorrell
- #35 Lou Piniella
- #71 1970 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #91 Bob Lemon
- #103 Rich Severson
- #118 Cookie Rojas
- #129 Aurelio Monteagudo
- #144 Jackie Hernandez
- #163 Buck Martinez
- #187 Ted Abernathy
- #221 Dave Morehead
- #247 Royals 1971 Rookie Stars
- #269 Gail Hopkins
- #299 Ed Kirkpatrick
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #581 card?
It is card #581 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Roger Nelson of the Kansas City Royals.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), 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.