1977 Topps #551 Bill North
About Bill North
Injuries held North to 56 games in 1977, and he finished with 17 steals and a .261 average. Two cards carry him that year. Card #4 is a League Leaders card shared with Dave Lopes, who is printed with the Dodgers, and card #551 is his own, with the Athletics.
Bill North was a switch-hitting center fielder who played 11 seasons in the majors, 1971 to 1981, for the Cubs, Athletics, Dodgers and Giants. He stole 395 bases, won two American League stolen-base titles, and from 1973 through 1976 recorded more putouts than any other major-league outfielder. A 12th-round Cubs pick in 1969 out of Central Washington State College, he led the Texas League with 47 steals and 91 runs for San Antonio in 1971. That fall he went to the Arizona Instructional League to learn switch-hitting, because Cubs manager Leo Durocher wanted to use his speed. Batting first or second for most of his career, he finished with a .365 on-base percentage, 43 points above the league average. He earned World Series rings with the 1973 and 1974 Athletics. Local sportswriters twice voted him his team's outstanding player, and a combative streak produced several fights on the field and in the clubhouse.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 143 | 18 | 85 | 33 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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
More Bill North in this set: #4 League Leaders
Team card: #74 Oakland Athletics Team
More Oakland Athletics cards:
- #4 1976 Stolen Base Leaders
- #12 Larry Haney
- #31 Jim Todd
- #53 Paul Mitchell
- #61 Manny Sanguillen
- #101 Dick Bosman
- #127 Ron Fairly
- #181 Ken McMullen
- #204 Jeff Newman
- #230 Vida Blue
- #261 Phil Garner
- #284 Mike Norris
- #323 Larry Lintz
- #349 Jim Holt
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #551 card?
It is card #551 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill North of the Oakland Athletics.
How many cards are in the 1977 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and distributed 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.