1976 Topps #258 - Nyls Nyman

• Nyls Nyman (cool name) played parts of four seasons for the Chicago White Sox from 1974-1977. I have a better copy of this card, but I figured I'd scan this one instead. Every once in a while one of these defective cards would show up in a pack.

• Nyman was a 16th round draft pick of the White Sox in 1972. He hit well in the minors (.288 as an 18-year-old in 1972, .315 in 1973, and .311 in 1974. Nyls made his big league debut on my 8th birthday (September 6, 1974) as a pinch runner. He went 9-14 (.643 batting average) for the year. That would have been a nice Strat-O-Matic card!

• Nyls got the vast majority of his major league playing time in 1975. He played in 106 games , batting .226 in 327 at bats. In 1976 he spent all but a couple of weeks in June in AAA Iowa. Nyls batted .133 in 15 at bats for the White Sox (not such a nice Strat card).

• Nyman started the 1977 season in Chicago and made one pinch hitting appearance before being sent back to Iowa. That groundout was his last major league at bat. Nyls was sent to Iowa and stayed there until he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the Clay Carroll deal. Nyman spent 1978 at AAA Springfield and 1979 at AAA Indianapolis (Reds organization). He retired at the age of 25 after the 1979 season.

• His brother Chris Nyman played two seasons for the White Sox in 1982 and 1983.