1970 Topps #170 Billy Williams
About Billy Williams
Williams hit .293 with 21 home runs and 95 RBI for the Cubs in 1969. On April 9 he hit four doubles, tying a major league record, in an 11-3 win over the Phillies, and on June 29 he played his 896th straight game, passing Stan Musial's National League record. His 1970 Topps card is #170, in series 2. That season he hit .322 with career highs of 42 home runs and 129 RBI. He also led the majors with 137 runs and 205 hits.
Billy Williams played left field for the Chicago Cubs from 1959 through 1974. With Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, he helped lift the club in the late 1960s after 20 years in the bottom half of the league standings. A native of Whistler, Alabama, he went home from Double-A San Antonio in 1959 after meeting open racial discrimination there; Cubs scout Buck O'Neil came to Whistler and coaxed him back. He hit .278 with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs in 1961 and was named National League Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star known as "Sweet-Swinging Billy from Whistler" for a smooth, efficient swing, he won the 1972 batting title at .333 and finished MVP runner-up twice, in 1970 and 1972, both times behind Cincinnati's Johnny Bench. He played 1,117 straight games from September 1963 to September 1970, a National League record that stood until 1983. Williams closed an 18-year career, the last two as Oakland's designated hitter, with a .290 average, 2,711 hits and 1,475 RBIs. When he retired, his 426 home runs ranked eighth in major league history among left-handed hitters. He entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and spent nearly two decades as a Cubs coach.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 956 | 8 | 89 | 372 | 225 | 122 | 55 | 85 | 0 |
| SGC | 147 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 40 | 35 | 22 | 15 | 1 |
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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #170 card?
It is card #170 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs.
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.