This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/12/2021
Nolan Ryan's propensity to give up too many walks necessitated an ill-fated trade to the California Angels; ill-fated for the New York Mets that is. Ryan's wildness continued throughout his career, leading the league eight times in free passes but also racking up 11 strikeout crowns and becoming the all-time whiff king among pitchers en route to a Hall of Fame career. Though the differences are extremely subtle from a visual standpoint, the Milton Bradley variation of Nolan Ryan's 1968 Topps rookie card is significantly more scarce than his mainstream issue, reporting just 20 Milton Bradley examples graded PSA 8 to a whopping 738 for the regular issue. The Milton Bradley version is also just as tough to find centered, but this one comes extremely close to hitting the bull's eye with true NM/MT corners, plenty of bold, precise color, and a noticeable lack of stray fish-eye's that impede upon the purple circle. If you're a fan of the "The Ryan Express", you really need a top-notch example of each of Ryan's four rookie card variations (Topps, Venezuela Topps, OPC, and Milton Bradley) and this is one of the best from the Milton Bradley series!