#287 Steve Bilko

#287 Steve Bilko
Progress: 1st of this card
308 of 407 75.7% complete
How acquired: $12.00 on ebay
Condition: Fair

This Steve Bilko was not a fun card to track down.  Bilko spent ten seasons in the majors, but was only a regular in two of them ('53 and '61), the other eight he struggled to get on the field.  Which made shelling out $12 for this card one of the more painful transactions of the first 308 cards I've picked up.  These 5th series cards are just tough.

Adding to my distress is that I just find this card to be not that nice to look at.  Beyond the fact that it's in pretty rough shape (which doesn't really bother me) I just don't like the shot.  To start with, it's horizontal, and I'm not wild about the horizontal cards in this set.  I'm also not wild about all the blue sky.  Maybe in better shape it would look nicer, but as it is, it just makes the card look pale.  And finally, it's just a crummy picture.  Bilko's face is obscured by his shoulder, you can't see much of the bat, and the position I'm sure makes Bilko look closer to 280 than his already robust 230.  It's just poor cropping.  In any event.  I now sit two cards away from completing the run of first five series from #1-310.  

Stats: 10 seasons, 432 hits, 76 hits, 249 avg.

Best Hall of Fame Showing: N/A