1971 Topps #578 Ron Hunt
About Ron Hunt
In his first Montreal season Hunt hit .279 with 89 runs and five home runs, the last of his career on September 21 against the Phillies at Jarry Park. On August 7 a Jim McGlothlin pitch, his 32nd of the year, broke the National League hit-by-pitch record set by Steve Evans of the 1910 Cardinals. On September 29 a Milt Pappas pitch made it 50, and Pappas argued to umpire Ken Burkhart that it had been over the plate. His #578 is a fifth-series Expos card.
Ron Hunt signed with the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent in 1959 and was sold to the New York Mets on October 11, 1962. A right-handed-hitting second baseman born in St. Louis, he won the Mets' second-base job as a rookie and finished runner-up to Pete Rose for the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year award. He was an All-Star in 1964 and 1966 and, in 1964, the first Met ever elected to start an All-Star Game. Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1966 season and to the San Francisco Giants in February 1968, he crowded the plate and led the National League in hit by pitches for seven straight seasons, from 1968 through 1974. His 50 for Montreal in 1971 set the modern single-season record. Over twelve seasons he batted .273 with 1,429 hits, and his 243 career hit by pitches stood as a post-dead-ball-era record when he retired. "A lot of people give their body to science," he used to say. "I gave mine to baseball." He belongs to the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame, founded the Ron Hunt Eagles Baseball Association for college-bound players, and died on July 15, 2026, at age 85.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Retrosheet · MLB.com
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 420 | 1 | 36 | 221 | 131 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1971 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #674 Montreal Expos
More Montreal Expos cards:
- #21 Dan McGinn
- #42 Boots Day
- #59 Gene Mauch
- #94 Don Hahn
- #132 Jose Laboy
- #142 Mack Jones
- #157 Bob Bailey
- #171 Bobby Wine
- #209 Steve Renko
- #232 John Strohmayer
- #266 Bill Stoneman
- #284 Jim Gosger
- #304 Ron Brand
- #315 Ron Fairly
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #578 card?
It is card #578 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ron Hunt of the Montreal Expos.
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.