1968 Topps Nolan Ryan #177 RC

Two rookies on one card

In 1968 Topps put two young New York Mets pitchers on a single 'Mets Rookies' card, number 177 in the set. One was Jerry Koosman, a 25-year-old pitcher. The other was Nolan Ryan, a 21-year-old Texan who had pitched in only two big league games. The Ryan card is one of the two key Hall of Fame rookie cards in the set, along with Johnny Bench.

It is not the only Ryan rookie. The same year, O-Pee-Chee in Canada, Milton Bradley and a Venezuelan edition of Topps produced versions of the same card. All three are tougher to find than the regular Topps card, especially the Venezuelan one, but the Topps card has the widest following. The versions share a general design with small differences; the Milton Bradley card, for example, has a brighter yellow back and sometimes a thin white line on an edge, carried over from other cards printed on the same sheet.

The Ryan Express

Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. was born on January 31, 1947, in Refugio, Texas, the youngest of six children, and grew up in Alvin, Texas, where his father ran a newspaper delivery route. In 1963 Mets scout Red Murff watched the Alvin High sophomore and reported that Ryan had 'the best arm I've seen in my life.' As a senior he went 19-3 and struck out 211.

The Mets drafted him in the 12th round in 1965, the 295th pick. In 1966 he struck out 307 batters in 202 minor league innings and earned a September call-up, debuting on September 11, 1966, at 19. He missed most of 1967 to illness, an arm injury and Army Reserve service, then returned to the majors in 1968 and stayed until 1993.

Over 27 seasons with the Mets, Angels, Astros and Rangers he won 324 games and set records that still stand: 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters, the last at age 44 on May 1, 1991. In 1973 he struck out 383, then a single-season record. On April 27, 1983, he passed Walter Johnson's career strikeout record, which had stood for more than half a century. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 with 98.8 percent of the vote, and three teams retired his number.

The other rookie

In 1968 Koosman was the better pitcher by far. He went 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA and seven shutouts, franchise records at the time, made the All-Star team and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Johnny Bench.

He went 17-9 with a 2.28 ERA for the 1969 'Miracle Mets' and pitched 19 seasons in all, finishing 222-209 with a 3.35 ERA. On the card that made him famous to collectors, though, he is usually the second name.

1968: the year of the pitcher

Ryan could not crack a rotation led by Tom Seaver and Koosman and was used as a reliever and spot starter. He still showed flashes: on April 19, 1968, he struck out three St. Louis Cardinals on nine pitches in one inning, only the 14th pitcher in major league history to do it. He finished 6-9 with a 3.09 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 134 innings. Blisters on his throwing hand were a recurring problem in his Mets years, and one remedy he tried was dipping his fingers in pickle brine.

It was a season dominated by pitchers; Bob Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA. And it was one of the most turbulent years in American history: the Tet Offensive began on January 30, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis on April 4, Robert F. Kennedy was shot in Los Angeles on June 5, police clashed with protesters outside the Democratic convention in Chicago, and on December 24 Apollo 8 entered orbit around the Moon.

The next year Ryan saved Game 3 of the 1969 World Series with 2 1/3 scoreless innings as the Mets won the title, his only Series appearance. In December 1971 the Mets traded him to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi, a deal since cited as one of the worst in team history.

From wax pack to the top of the census

Ryan's card was printed in quantity, and the grading service has graded thousands of copies across every grade. Scarcity is a matter of condition. Its census counts 756 copies in PSA 8, with 204 graded higher, including 69 in PSA 9 and a single PSA 10.

That lone PSA 10 sold at auction in August 2020. The grading service's own sales record and a sports magazine both give the price as $600,000. A news report the day of the sale described a $500,000 winning bid, and a collector magazine headline gave $615,000.

PSA 8 copies change hands regularly. One with sharp corners and above-average centering sold for $11,964 with buyer's premium in March 2021 against an estimate of $7,000 and up. In 2026, PSA 8 copies sold in online auctions for $11,300 in March, $21,100 in June and $15,178 in August, a spread that shows how much eye appeal and centering can move a price within one grade.

What to look for

Confirm the number and the title: card #177, 'Mets Rookies,' with Koosman and Ryan. Then check the back and the color. The O-Pee-Chee, Milton Bradley and Venezuelan Topps versions look similar but are separate cards; the Milton Bradley back is a brighter yellow and may show a thin white line along an edge.

Within PSA 8, buyers look closely at centering, corners and color. One PSA 8 that sold in 2021 was described as having razor-sharp corners and edges, brilliant colors and above-average centering, the qualities that tend to separate the stronger 8s.

The numbers

Ryan 1968 season

6-9, 3.09 ERA, 21 G, 18 GS, 3 CG, 134.0 IP, 93 H, 75 BB, 133 SO

Ryan 1969 World Series

1 G, 2.1 IP, 0 R, 1 save (Game 3); Mets won the Series 4-1

Ryan career (1966, 1968-1993)

27 seasons, 324-292, 3.19 ERA, 5,386 IP, 5,714 SO (record), 2,795 BB (record), 61 SHO, 7 no-hitters (record)

Ryan 1973 season

21-16, 2.87 ERA, 383 SO (then the single-season record); second in Cy Young voting

Koosman 1968 season

19-12, 2.08 ERA, 35 G, 17 CG, 7 SHO, 263.2 IP, 178 SO; All-Star; 2nd in NL Rookie of the Year

Koosman career

19 seasons, 222-209, 3.35 ERA

Hall of Fame

Ryan inducted 1999, 98.8% of the vote

Timeline

1. Jan 31, 1947

   Nolan Ryan is born in Refugio, Texas.

2. 1963

   Mets scout Red Murff sees Ryan pitch for Alvin High School.

3. 1965

   The Mets draft Ryan in the 12th round.

4. Sep 11, 1966

   Ryan makes his major league debut at 19.

5. 1968

   Topps issues card #177, 'Mets Rookies,' with Ryan and Koosman.

6. Apr 19, 1968

   Ryan strikes out the side on nine pitches against St. Louis.

7. Oct 1969

   Ryan saves Game 3 as the Mets win the World Series.

8. Dec 10, 1971

   The Mets trade Ryan to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.

9. 1973

   Ryan throws two no-hitters and strikes out 383.

10. Apr 27, 1983

    Ryan passes Walter Johnson's career strikeout record.

11. Aug 22, 1989

    Ryan becomes the only pitcher with 5,000 strikeouts.

12. May 1, 1991

    At 44, Ryan throws his record seventh no-hitter.

13. 1993

    Ryan retires after 27 seasons.

14. 1999

    Ryan is elected to the Hall of Fame with 98.8 percent of the vote.

15. Aug 22, 2020

    The only PSA 10 copy of the card sells at auction.

16. Mar 25, 2021

    A PSA 8 sells for $11,964 with buyer's premium.

The world in 1968

• Jan 23, 1968

  North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo.

• Jan 30, 1968

  The Tet Offensive begins in South Vietnam.

• Apr 4, 1968

  Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead in Memphis.

• Jun 5, 1968

  Robert F. Kennedy is shot in Los Angeles and dies the next day.

• Aug 22, 1968

  Police clash with antiwar protesters outside the Democratic convention in Chicago.

• Oct 16, 1968

  Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists on the Olympic podium in Mexico City.

• Nov 5, 1968

  Richard Nixon is elected president.

• Dec 24, 1968

  Apollo 8 enters lunar orbit, and the Earthrise photograph is taken.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this card every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

No completed sale at PSA 8 is on record yet. The same card at other grades:

Every grade and recorded sale for this card

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan #177 RC is number 64 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (13 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Ryan's co-star on the card, Jerry Koosman, won 19 games in 1968; Ryan won six.
• Ryan once soaked his pitching fingers in pickle brine to fight blisters.
• Four different Ryan rookie cards were issued in 1968, but the Topps #177 is the one most collectors chase.
• Ryan struck out three batters on nine pitches in 1968 and did it again in 1972 in the other league, the first pitcher to do so in both.
• Ryan is the only pitcher with 5,000 career strikeouts; Rickey Henderson was number 5,000.
• Ryan was the first player to play for all four of MLB's original expansion teams.