1963 Topps #246 Lee Stange
About Lee Stange
Stange opened 1963 back in the minors, starting for Dallas-Fort Worth of the Pacific Coast League and going 7-1 with a 2.05 ERA - five complete games, 53 hits allowed in 66 innings, and a 15-strikeout three-hitter against San Diego. Minnesota recalled him on June 15 and he stayed for good, finishing 12-5 with a 2.62 ERA that ranked sixth in the American League, plus seven complete games and two shutouts in 20 starts. The Minneapolis baseball writers named him their most improved player. His 1963 Topps #246 is a third-series Twins card.
Albert Lee Stange, a right-handed pitcher born in Chicago in 1936 and raised in suburban Broadview, spent parts of ten major league seasons (1961-1970) with the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, finishing 62-61 with a 3.56 ERA and 718 strikeouts in 359 games. Knee injuries at Drake University, where he never played college baseball, pushed him into pro ball with the Washington Senators organization, and he won 20 games for Class B Wilson of the Carolina League in 1960 before breaking in with the Twins in their first Minnesota season. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, he spent his career fending off front-office doubts that a pitcher his size could start, and shuttled between rotation and bullpen for four clubs, making 125 starts among his 359 appearances. His best year came with Boston's 1967 Impossible Dream pennant winners, where he led the staff with a 2.77 ERA and pitched in the World Series. Known around the game as Stinger, he later worked for decades as a pitching coach and minor league instructor for the Red Sox, Twins and Athletics, helping develop Roger Clemens and Bruce Hurst. He died in Florida in 2018 at age 81.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 271 | 0 | 16 | 149 | 84 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #162 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Ray Moore
- #40 Vic Power
- #75 Bob Allison
- #89 Dick Stigman
- #110 Rich Rollins
- #127 Bill Tuttle
- #165 Jim Kaat
- #186 Jerry Zimmerman
- #198 Lenny Green
- #220 Camilo Pascual
- #228 1963 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #246 card?
It is card #246 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Lee Stange of the Minnesota Twins.
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.