1969 Topps #663 Dick Radatz
About Dick Radatz
Radatz's last Topps card is #663, a high number in the seventh series, and it puts him back home with Detroit. The Cubs released him in the spring of 1968 after he threw 24 straight balls in a March exhibition; the Tigers signed him on April 22 and sent him to Triple-A Toledo, where he struck out 103 and walked 23 in 110 innings with a 2.78 ERA. No club drafted him that winter, but he made the 1969 Tigers and beat Washington on April 29 for his first big-league win in two years. He was 2-2 when Detroit sold his contract to Montreal on June 15.
Richard Raymond Radatz, a 6-foot-6 right-hander out of Detroit and Michigan State University, debuted with the Boston Red Sox on April 10, 1962, after a minor-league conversion from starter to reliever. He was the American League's most feared closer of the early 1960s: a two-time All-Star (1963, 1964) and two-time Sporting News Fireman of the Year (1962, 1964) who led the league in saves as a rookie and, in 1964, struck out a still-standing major-league record 181 batters in relief. The nickname "The Monster" is credited to Mickey Mantle, though the accounts of the night he hung it on Radatz do not agree. Boston traded him to Cleveland in June 1966, and he later pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos before finishing in 1969 with a 52-43 record, a 3.13 ERA, 122 saves and 745 strikeouts in 693-2/3 innings. The Red Sox put him in their team Hall of Fame in 1997. He died in 2005 at age 67 after a fall at his Easton, Massachusetts home.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 280 | 3 | 36 | 137 | 61 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #663 card?
It is card #663 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dick Radatz of the Detroit Tigers.
Why is #663 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #589-664 - the scarce end of the set.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, 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 2026-10-12.