1976 Topps #102 Jim Willoughby
About Jim Willoughby
After the Red Sox sent Dick Drago to California, Willoughby was Boston's main short man for all of 1976. He went 3-12 but saved 10 games with a 2.82 ERA. Darrell Johnson was replaced in midseason by third-base coach Don Zimmer. Willoughby was upset at season's end when assistant general manager John Claiborne acknowledged that private detectives had followed Boston's players that year. Topps numbered his 1976 card #102 and printed it with the Red Sox.
Jim Willoughby was a right-handed sinker and slider pitcher who threw from a three-quarters arm slot. He worked as a starter, long reliever and short man for the Giants, Red Sox and White Sox from 1971 to 1978. He finished 26-36 with a 3.79 ERA and 34 saves. San Francisco drafted him out of Gustine High School in the 11th round in 1967, and his signing package included the Professional Baseball Scholarship Plan, which he used for engineering classes at Cal-Berkeley and other schools while in the minors.
Boston made him a full-time reliever. He arrived from St. Louis in July 1975 as the player to be named later in the Mario Guerrero trade, saved eight games with a 3.54 ERA and helped the Red Sox to the pennant. In the World Series against Cincinnati he pitched in Games 3, 5 and 7, taking the loss in Game 3. In Game 7 he retired Johnny Bench with the bases loaded to end the seventh, then was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth. He was among the Red Sox dubbed the Buffalo Heads for their countercultural ways, and he pitched in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989 and 1990.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 158 | 8 | 74 | 61 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #118 Boston Red Sox Team
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #29 Rick Burleson
- #50 Fred Lynn
- #78 Cecil Cooper
- #130 Luis Tiant
- #142 Dick Drago
- #170 Rick Wise
- #192 1975 AL Batting Leaders
- #196 1975 AL RBI Leaders
- #230 Carl Yastrzemski
- #278 Bernie Carbo
- #302 Rick Miller
- #326 Dick Pole
- #340 Jim Rice
- #347 Ted Williams
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #102 card?
It is card #102 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Willoughby of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
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.