1971 Topps #660 Ray Culp
About Ray Culp
All 33 of Culp's 1970 appearances were starts, and he threw 251 1/3 innings. He completed 15 of them and struck out 197. He again won 17 games, finishing 17-14, and cut his ERA to 3.04 in hitter-friendly Fenway Park. He drew a bit worse run support than in 1969, and one writer judged that he could have been a 20-game winner with a little luck. His Red Sox card is #660, a sixth-series issue in the 1971 Topps set.
Ray Culp, a right-handed pitcher born August 6, 1941, in Elgin, Texas, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies out of Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin for a $100,000 bonus in 1959, then spent four uneven minor-league seasons before sticking in the majors. He debuted on April 10, 1963, and was named The Sporting News' National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year that season, going 14-11 with a 2.97 ERA, 176 strikeouts, five shutouts and an All-Star selection. Elbow trouble knocked him back the following year, and after a bullpen-heavy 1966 he asked to be traded; Philadelphia sent him to the Chicago Cubs that December for Dick Ellsworth, and Chicago dealt him to the Boston Red Sox a year later. Armed with a palmball Roger Craig had shown him back in Philadelphia, he became the Red Sox ace, winning between 14 and 17 games in each of his first four seasons there and making a second All-Star team in 1969. Shoulder surgery and arm trouble ended his career in 1973 at 122-101 with a 3.58 ERA and 1,411 strikeouts over 11 seasons; he went home to Austin and built a real-estate business.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 374 | 0 | 19 | 181 | 120 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
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: #386 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #9 George Scott
- #31 Eddie Kasko
- #58 Bill Lee
- #61 1970 American League Batting Leaders
- #63 1970 American League RBI Leaders
- #65 1970 American League Home Run Leaders
- #89 Ken Brett
- #114 Billy Conigliaro
- #159 Jarvis Tatum
- #176 Red Sox 1971 Rookie Stars
- #191 Mike Andrews
- #225 Gary Peters
- #254 Cal Koonce
- #287 Mike Fiore
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #660 card?
It is card #660 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Culp of the Boston Red Sox.
Why is #660 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #644-752 - the scarce end of the set. Some of its cards were printed in larger numbers than others, so scarcity varies card by card inside the run.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), 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.