1973 Topps #224 Bill Lee
About Bill Lee
Lee's #224 is a second-series Red Sox number. His 1973 line was 33 starts in 38 games with a 2.75 ERA. He threw 18 complete games, one of them a shutout, in 284 2/3 innings. He also struck out 120 batters and saved a game.
Bill Lee was a left-handed pitcher who worked for the Boston Red Sox from 1969 to 1978 and the Montreal Expos from 1979 to 1982, finishing 119-90 with a 3.62 ERA. A USC product on the 1968 College World Series winner, he lacked a good fastball and leaned on off-speed pitches, including his own slow, arcing take on the eephus that he called the Leephus pitch. Used almost entirely in relief for four seasons, he moved into the rotation in 1973, went 17-11 and made the American League All-Star team, then won 17 games in each of the next two years. He started two games of the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati. He was nicknamed Spaceman by former Red Sox infielder John Kennedy, and his outspoken, countercultural opinions were frequently recorded in the press. A feud with manager Don Zimmer led to his trade to Montreal after 1978, and he was released by the Expos in 1982 after a one-game walkout over the release of Rodney Scott. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 247 | 0 | 77 | 136 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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
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- #131 Red Sox Field Leaders
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #224 card?
It is card #224 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Lee of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1973 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 679 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, in five series of 132 - #1-132, #133-264, #265-396, #397-528 and the high numbers, #529-660, printed in lower quantities; 19 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fifteen Field Leaders cards, the #20 Stan Bahnsen, #31 Buddy Bell and #504 Earl Williams border-gap pairs and the two #280 Al Kaline printings.
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.