1972 Topps #440 Billy Williams In Action
About this card
This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
About Billy Williams In Action
Williams appears twice in the fourth series of the 1972 set, on #439 and on the In Action card #440, both as a Cub. They came out in a summer when he went 8 for 8 in a July 11 doubleheader against Houston at Wrigley Field, lifting his average from .310 to .328. He finished with 37 home runs and 122 RBI, led the majors with a .606 slugging percentage, and was named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
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 | 414 | 17 | 118 | 191 | 38 | 23 | 11 | 16 | 0 |
| SGC | 36 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 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
More Billy Williams in this set: #439 Billy Williams
Team card: #192 Chicago Cubs
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #18 Juan Pizarro
- #29 Bill Bonham
- #45 Glenn Beckert
- #46 Glenn Beckert In Action
- #61 Cubs 1972 Rookie Stars
- #85 1971 N.L. Batting Leaders
- #93 1971 N.L. Pitching Leaders
- #95 1971 N.L. Strikeout Leaders
- #117 Cleo James
- #145 Don Kessinger
- #208 Milt Pappas
- #258 Randy Hundley
- #271 Ken Rudolph
- #303 Joe Pepitone
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #440 card?
It is card #440 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs. This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
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.