1963 Topps #480 Bill Monbouquette
About Bill Monbouquette
At #480 this is a sixth-series card, a semi-high number, so it sits in the middle ground of 1963 Topps difficulty. Behind it is a 1962 campaign of 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA, 235 innings, 11 complete games and four shutouts for a Red Sox club that finished dead last in the American League. The most famous of those four whitewashings came against Early Wynn, who was chasing his 298th victory and matched Monbouquette zero for zero until Boston pushed across a single run in the eighth.
William Charles Monbouquette, a Medford, Massachusetts, right-hander known as Monbo, signed with his hometown Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1955 and debuted on July 18, 1958. A workhorse with pinpoint control, he carried Boston rotations through the early 1960s on mostly second-division clubs, was named an American League All-Star in 1960, 1962 and 1963, and set a Red Sox record with a 17-strikeout game against Washington in 1961. His signature moment came on August 1, 1962, when he no-hit the Chicago White Sox 1-0 at Comiskey Park; a second-inning walk to Al Smith was the only baserunner he allowed. A 20-game winner in 1963, he went 96-91 in eight seasons with Boston before an October 1965 trade sent him to Detroit. Released by the Tigers in May 1967, he caught on with the New York Yankees and closed his career with the San Francisco Giants in 1968, finishing 114-112 with a 3.68 ERA, 78 complete games and 1,122 strikeouts. He later coached in the New York Mets system and served as their major-league pitching coach in 1982 and 1983. Boston elected him to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 238 | 0 | 15 | 103 | 91 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here.
Find this card
Search T206 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: #202 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #2 1962 American League Batting Leaders
- #28 Mike Fornieles
- #52 Chuck Schilling
- #76 Earl Wilson
- #96 Lou Clinton
- #115 Carl Yastrzemski
- #136 Ike Delock
- #168 Russ Nixon
- #188 Eddie Bressoud
- #216 Gene Conley
- #232 Frank Malzone
- #251 Jack Lamabe
- #253 1963 Rookie Stars
- #285 Dick Stuart
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #480 card?
It is card #480 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Monbouquette of the Boston Red Sox.
Why is #480 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-03.