1971 Topps #243 Carlos May
About Carlos May
Carlos May played a career-high 150 games in 1970 as the White Sox left fielder, batting .285. He hit 12 home runs and drove in 68 runs for a club that finished 42 games behind Minnesota. His #243 card, from the second series, shows him with Chicago. In 1971 he hit .294 with 70 RBIs and played first base regularly for the only time in his career.
Carlos May spent ten major league seasons, 1968-1977, almost entirely with the Chicago White Sox before finishing with the New York Yankees and California Angels. A first-round pick out of Birmingham, Alabama's A. H. Parker High School, the left-handed-hitting outfielder and first baseman broke in with Chicago in September 1968 and was the starting left fielder in 1969, making the American League All-Star team twice. A military accident in August 1969, when a mortar he was cleaning discharged and partially amputated his right thumb, threatened to end his career, but he returned to play through 1977, adapting his swing and grip. Traded to the Yankees in 1976, he reached the World Series that year. He finished with a .274 average, 90 home runs and 536 RBIs, then played four more seasons in Japan for the Nankai Hawks. He later worked for the U.S. Postal Service and as a community relations representative for the White Sox.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 256 | 0 | 6 | 106 | 107 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 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: #289 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #13 White Sox 1971 Rookie Stars
- #37 Rich McKinney
- #56 Duane Josephson
- #80 Bill Melton
- #113 Jerry Crider
- #156 Bart Johnson
- #169 Ed Herrmann
- #186 Bob Spence
- #227 Floyd Weaver
- #267 Rich Morales
- #292 Jay Johnstone
- #311 Lee Stange
- #345 Joe Horlen
- #373 Tom McCraw
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #243 card?
It is card #243 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Carlos May of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), 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.