1970 Topps #304 Bill Russell
About Bill Russell
Card #304, from the third series, follows Russell's 1969 debut on April 7 at age 20. He played 98 games that first season and batted .226 with 5 home runs, and 86 of those games came in the outfield because veteran Maury Wills held the shortstop job. The card is a key rookie card of the set and his first Topps card.
Bill Russell played shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers through the Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey years, and all 18 of his major league seasons, 1969 to 1986, came in a Dodger uniform. He appeared in 2,181 games, a club total topped only by Zack Wheat, and batted .263, the same average he posted in 23 World Series games. The Dodgers drafted him in the ninth round in 1966 out of Pittsburg High School in Kansas. The infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey stayed together for eight and a half years. He was an All-Star in 1973, 1976 and 1980, wore number 18, hit .337 over five NLCS and played on four pennant winners, the last of them the 1981 champions. A Mike LaCoss pitch shattered his right forefinger in September 1980; after surgery he played on until his retirement. Tommy John called him the best shortstop who ever played behind him. Russell joined Tommy Lasorda's coaching staff in 1987 and became acting manager on June 25, 1996, the day after Lasorda's heart attack. Made permanent on July 29, he took the 1996 club to the wild card and went 173-149 before he was fired on June 21, 1998, ending a 30-year association with the club.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 426 | 1 | 75 | 257 | 58 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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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Related cards
Team card: #411 Los Angeles Dodgers
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #5 Wes Parker
- #34 Willie Crawford
- #54 Jeff Torborg
- #71 1969 National League Strikeout Leaders
- #97 Joe Moeller
- #131 Dodgers 1970 Rookie Stars
- #157 Manny Mota
- #174 Ted Sizemore
- #204 Len Gabrielson
- #242 Walter Alston
- #260 Claude Osteen
- #286 Dodgers 1970 Rookie Stars
- #341 Bill Sudakis
- #369 Alan Foster
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #304 card?
It is card #304 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Russell of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Is 1970 Topps #304 a rookie card?
Yes - #304 is the 1970 Topps rookie card of Bill Russell.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.