1979 Topps #316 Milt May
About Milt May
By 1979 Parrish was the Tigers' regular catcher, and May was traded to the White Sox partway through the year, hitting .254 with 7 home runs in 71 games between the two clubs. He signed a five-year, $1 million deal with San Francisco on December 12. Card #316 still lists the Tigers.
Milt May was a left-handed-hitting catcher who played 15 seasons, 1970 to 1984, for the Pirates, Astros, Tigers, White Sox and Giants. The Pirates drafted him as an infielder in the 11th round in 1968 out of St. Petersburg High School and converted him to catching. He was known as a good handler of pitchers and a line-drive hitter who rarely chased bad pitches, though also reputedly the slowest runner in the majors. At 21 he was on the 1971 World Series champions. With San Francisco he hit the 9,000th home run in Giants history in 1980, and in 1981 he hit .310, the highest mark ever by a Giants catcher. The Giants traded him back to Pittsburgh in August 1983 for Steve Nicosia. His father, Pinky May, was a professional third baseman, and Milt was his bat boy as a youth. He retired with 971 hits, 77 home runs and a .263 average, and later spent ten seasons as the Pirates' hitting coach and two with Florida.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 75 | 16 | 34 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #66 Detroit Tigers / Les Moss
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #4 1978 Stolen Base Leaders
- #33 Dave Rozema
- #80 Jason Thompson
- #93 Phil Mankowski
- #123 Lou Whitaker
- #151 John Hiller
- #176 Aurelio Rodriguez
- #196 Steve Kemp
- #217 Steve Dillard
- #231 Johnny Wockenfuss
- #251 Jack Morris
- #272 Tim Corcoran
- #288 Milt Wilcox
- #343 Ed Glynn
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #316 card?
It is card #316 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Milt May of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1979 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, tracked as 727 collectible states: #369 Bump Wills comes with a Rangers or a Blue Jays team banner, and the master set counts both.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA, 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.