1973 Topps #251 Roger Nelson
About Roger Nelson
Nelson finished fifth in the American League in ERA in 1972, completing 10 games, six of them shutouts, in 19 starts. He also saved three games. On December 1, 1972, the Royals sent him and Richie Scheinblum to Cincinnati for Hal McRae and Wayne Simpson. Card #251, a second-series issue, shows him in Kansas City colors.
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 | 244 | 5 | 99 | 122 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1973 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #347 Kansas City Royals
More Kansas City Royals cards:
- #22 Ted Abernathy
- #48 Paul Splittorff
- #78 Richie Scheinblum
- #99 Carl Taylor
- #118 John Mayberry
- #140 Lou Piniella
- #164 Monty Montgomery
- #188 Cookie Rojas
- #233 Ed Kirkpatrick
- #282 Steve Hovley
- #306 Tom Burgmeier
- #334 Freddie Patek
- #392 Dick Drago
- #416 Paul Schaal
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #251 card?
It is card #251 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Roger Nelson of the Kansas City Royals.
How many cards are in the 1973 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 679 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, in five series of 132 - #1-132, #133-264, #265-396, #397-528 and the high numbers, #529-660, printed in lower quantities; 19 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fifteen Field Leaders cards, the #20 Stan Bahnsen, #31 Buddy Bell and #504 Earl Williams border-gap pairs and the two #280 Al Kaline printings.
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.