1972 Topps #89 1971 N.L. Home Run Leaders - Willie Stargell / Hank Aaron / Lee May
On this card: Willie Stargell, Hank Aaron, Lee May
About this card
Cards #85-96 are the twelve League Leaders cards: the 1971 leaders in batting, runs batted in, home runs, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts, one card per league in each category with the National League card first, and three or four players on each card (#93 names four).
The story on this card
The 1971 National League home run title went to Willie Stargell, whose 48 for the Pirates edged Hank Aaron's 47 for the Braves in the final week; Lee May of the Reds, with 39, completes 1972 Topps #89. Stargell had set a major league record for April with 11 home runs and drove in a career-high 125 as Pittsburgh won the World Series over Baltimore. Aaron hit .327 with 118 RBI. May's total was a career high, and on November 29, 1971 the Reds sent him to Houston in the trade that brought Joe Morgan to Cincinnati. The card is the National League half of the home run pairing in the League Leaders run at #85-96.
Willie Stargell was Pittsburgh's power-hitting left fielder and first baseman, a seven-time All-Star known as "Pops" who won two World Series with the Pirates and, at age 39, took the 1979 National League MVP, NLCS MVP and World Series MVP awards. Hank Aaron spent 23 major-league seasons with the Braves and Brewers. The right fielder passed Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974 and finished with 755 home runs and 3,771 hits. Royals first baseman Lee May collected his 2,000th major-league hit on June 8, 1981, against Yankees left-hander Dave Righetti, near the end of a career that began with Cincinnati.
Sources: Wikipedia (Willie Stargell) · Wikipedia (Lee May) · Wikipedia (Hank Aaron) · SABR BioProject (Willie Stargell) · SABR BioProject (Hank Aaron) · SABR BioProject (Lee May) · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball-Reference · MLB.com · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,359 | 7 | 117 | 473 | 267 | 192 | 125 | 178 | 0 |
| SGC | 287 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 49 | 71 | 59 | 71 | 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 cards: #1 World Champions (Pittsburgh Pirates), #21 Atlanta Braves, #651 Cincinnati Reds
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #27 Bob Johnson
- #60 Manny Sanguillen
- #72 Bruce Kison
- #87 1971 N.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #125 Dave Cash
- #152 Gene Clines
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #74 Cecil Upshaw
- #85 1971 N.L. Batting Leaders
- #87 1971 N.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #97 Tom Kelley
- #119 Marty Perez
- #149 Gary Neibauer
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #89 card?
It is card #89 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Willie Stargell, Hank Aaron and Lee May. Cards #85-96 are the twelve League Leaders cards: the 1971 leaders in batting, runs batted in, home runs, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts, one card per league in each category with the National League card first, and three or four players on each card (#93 names four).
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
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.