1971 Topps #343 Pirates Rookie Stars - Ed Acosta / Milt May
On this card: Ed Acosta, Milt May
About this card
This is one of the 44 Rookie Stars cards in the 1971 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club, league or position title. All 44 count as rookie cards.
The story on this card
Acosta shares this Rookie Stars card with Milt May, both listed with Pittsburgh, and it is the first card for each man. Acosta had debuted for the Pirates on September 7, 1970, and pitched in three games that season, with one save. The card is #343, from the third series. Ed Acosta, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Panama, pitched 57 major league games for the 1970 Pirates and the 1971-72 Padres, going 6-9 with a 4.05 ERA, one shutout and one save.
May played 49 games for the 1971 Pirates, hitting .278 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI, then drove in the winning run with a pinch single in Game 4 of the World Series, a 4-3 win over Baltimore. His #343 is a Rookie Stars card shared with Ed Acosta, both listed with Pittsburgh, from the third series. Milt May was a left-handed-hitting catcher from 1970 to 1984 for five clubs, a Pirates World Series champion at 21 who hit .310 for the Giants in 1981, the best mark by one of their catchers.
Sources: Wikipedia (Ed Acosta) · Wikipedia (Milt May) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 497 | 0 | 34 | 292 | 140 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 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: #603 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #2 Dock Ellis
- #27 Pirates 1971 Rookie Stars
- #47 Johnny Jeter
- #62 1970 National League Batting Leaders
- #68 1970 National League ERA Leaders
- #73 George Brunet
- #110 Bill Mazeroski
- #143 Steve Blass
- #168 Bruce Dal Canton
- #212 Rich Hebner
- #230 Willie Stargell
- #255 Bob Robertson
- #282 Jose Pagan
- #298 Jim Nelson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #343 card?
It is card #343 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ed Acosta and Milt May. This is one of the 44 Rookie Stars cards in the 1971 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club, league or position title. All 44 count as rookie cards.
Is 1971 Topps #343 a rookie card?
Yes - #343 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Ed Acosta and Milt May.
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.