1958 Topps #259 Al Pilarcik
About Al Pilarcik
Al Pilarcik's 1958 Topps card, #259 from the third series, shows the left-handed outfielder with the Baltimore Orioles. It follows a 1957 of 142 games, a .278 average, 9 home runs, 49 RBI and 52 runs scored. He then played over 100 games for Baltimore in each of the next two seasons, primarily in right field.
Alfred James Pilarcik was a left-handed-hitting, left-throwing outfielder who played six major league seasons between 1956 and 1961 for the Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox. Born in Whiting, Indiana on July 3, 1930, he reached the majors with Kansas City on July 13, 1956. Primarily a right fielder, he settled in as a Baltimore regular, playing 142 games in 1957 and batting .278 with nine home runs and 49 runs batted in, then 141 games in 1958 and 130 in 1959. Listed at 5-foot-10, he was a dependable glove, finishing with a .986 fielding percentage across all three outfield spots. He is best remembered for September 28, 1960 at Fenway Park, Ted Williams' last game: Pilarcik caught a Williams drive near the right-field bullpen wall in the fifth, then in the eighth watched Williams' 521st and final home run clear that bullpen. He closed out in 1961 with a second stint in Kansas City and a finish with the White Sox, retiring at .256 with 22 home runs and 143 RBI in 668 games. He later taught 33 years at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana, coaching its baseball team for 24 seasons, and was elected to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. He died September 20, 2010.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 264 | 0 | 4 | 92 | 99 | 40 | 15 | 14 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Al Pilarcik card?
It is card #259 of the 1958 Topps Baseball set - Topps' sixth flagship issue: 494 cards numbered 1-495 (#145 was never issued), with die-cut player photos on solid-color backgrounds and the first team logos on Topps fronts. It pictures Al Pilarcik, Baltimore Orioles.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Al Pilarcik #259 are there?
PSA has graded 264 copies and SGC 20 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot. Population is a scarcity guide, not a price - high-grade 1958s are notoriously tough because of the set's chronic centering and print-quality issues.
How many cards are in the 1958 Topps set?
494 issued cards, numbered 1-495 - #145 (Ed Bouchee) was pulled before release and never issued, leaving a permanent gap. The PSA master census counts 534 items: the 494 base cards plus 33 yellow-letter variations, 4 numerical checklist-back team cards, the 'Herrer' #433 error, and 2 unnumbered ad cards.
Sources: PSA CardFacts, Beckett, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research (Topps Archives, 2026). Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-09-30.