1979 Topps #115 Nolan Ryan
About Nolan Ryan
Ryan struck out 260 batters in 1978, finishing 10-13 with a 3.72 ERA for California. His three 1979 Topps appearances included Angels card #115 and strikeout leaders #6 with Houston's J.R. Richard. All-Time Record Holders #417 paired him with Washington's Walter Johnson in the strikeouts category. In the 1979 ALCS opener, Ryan struck out 8 Orioles in 7 innings and received no decision.
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr., born January 31, 1947, in Refugio, Texas, and raised in Alvin, near Houston, was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round in 1965. He pitched a record 27 major league seasons (1966, 1968-1993) for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. He retired with a 324-292 record, a 3.19 ERA and 5,714 strikeouts, the most in major league history. He also holds the career records for walks (2,795) and no-hitters (seven, three more than any other pitcher). He struck out 300 batters in a season a record six times and made eight All-Star teams. Nicknamed "the Ryan Express" and known for a fastball clocked above 100 mph, he helped the 1969 Mets win the World Series before a December 1971 trade sent him to California for Jim Fregosi. He signed with Houston as a free agent before the 1980 season, then finished with Texas, where he threw his sixth and seventh no-hitters at ages 43 and 44. Ryan was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 in his first year of eligibility with 98.8 percent of the vote, and is one of three players to have his number retired by at least three teams.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 7,816 | 13 | 878 | 2,878 | 1,640 | 1,070 | 709 | 626 | 2 |
| SGC | 1,609 | 0 | 48 | 392 | 456 | 308 | 212 | 187 | 6 |
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
More Nolan Ryan in this set: #6 League Leaders, #417 All-Time Record Holders
Team card: #424 California Angels / Jim Fregosi
More California Angels cards:
- #6 1978 Strikeout Leaders
- #18 Tony Solaita
- #48 Merv Rettenmund
- #71 Brian Downing
- #212 Carney Lansford
- #267 Joe Rudi
- #291 Tom Griffin
- #313 Dyar Miller
- #322 Danny Goodwin
- #339 Ron Jackson
- #368 Don Aase
- #402 Paul Hartzell
- #417 All-Time Record Holders: Strikeouts
- #453 Chris Knapp
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #115 card?
It is card #115 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Nolan Ryan of the California Angels.
How many cards are in the 1979 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, tracked as 727 collectible states: #369 Bump Wills comes with a Rangers or a Blue Jays team banner, and the master set counts both.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA, 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.