Manufacturer: Topps
Set: 1971 Topps Baseball ➡️
Player Name: Bob Montgomery & Doug Griffin
Position/Team: Catcher for Red Sox
Card #: 176
Card Size: 2-1/2” x 3-1/2”
Card Values: See Pricing Table Below
In an era before specialized rest days, Montgomery had one of the toughest jobs in baseball: serving as the primary understudy to Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. Despite playing in Fisk’s shadow, Montgomery carved out a distinct identity based on high-efficiency production when his name was called. His absolute peak performance came during the 1973 season when Fisk was sidelined with an injury. Montgomery stepped into the starting role and caught fire, batting a spectacular .320 with 7 home runs and 25 RBIs in just 34 games.
He was also a vital depth piece for the legendary 1975 Red Sox team, appearing in 62 games during the regular season to help anchor the pitching staff on the way to a historic American League pennant and a classic World Series appearance.
Montgomery holds a permanent place in the baseball trivia record books for a unique hardware distinction. On September 9, 1979, he played his final Major League game. Because he never wore a plastic batting helmet while hitting—preferring to stick with a traditional soft protective liner tucked inside his standard cloth cap—Montgomery officially retired as the last player in Major League Baseball history to bat without a helmet. He was grandfathered into the league’s 1971 rule change making helmets mandatory.
Bob Montgomery shares this Red Sox “Rookie Stars” card with team mate Doug Griffin.
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Pricing Data For This Rookie Card
➡️ See All 1971 Topps Rookie Card Prices
Pricing chart includes raw card price & some graded card value estimates.
These values are collated from a variety of resources including recently sold listings, sales averages and a variety of other sports card pricing data sources. Please see full disclaimer on “Terms Page” for more information. (Rookiecardprices.com only shows values for regular base set cards. No prices are shown for errors, parallels, subsets, misprints or other cards unless noted.)
DISCLAIMER: This data is not intended as financial advice and should not be used as such. Please do your own research before making any investment or selling/buying decisions.
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