1961 Topps #184 Steve Bilko
About Steve Bilko
Bilko was an original Los Angeles Angel in 1961, and American League expansion handed him the perfect landing spot: the club's first home was Wrigley Field, the same cozy park where he had punished Pacific Coast League pitching. Manager Bill Rigney opened the season with him in right field, then settled him into a platoon at first base. He played 114 games and hit .279 with 20 home runs and 59 RBI, 11 of those homers at Wrigley, his best numbers in the majors outside 1953. In the Angels' last game there, the final game in the park's history, he pinch-hit in the ninth and cleared the left-field wall one more time. Card #184 comes from print series 2 of the 1961 Topps set.
Stephen Thomas Bilko, born November 13, 1928, in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, was a right-handed first baseman who played parts of ten major league seasons between 1949 and 1962 for the Cardinals, Cubs, Redlegs, Dodgers, Tigers, and Angels. Signed by St. Louis out of the Pennsylvania coal country at sixteen, he got his one long look as a regular in 1953, hitting 21 home runs with 84 RBI in 154 games while leading the National League with 125 strikeouts. His real fame came in the Pacific Coast League, where he won three straight MVP awards with the Los Angeles Angels from 1955 through 1957 and took the 1956 PCL Triple Crown with a .360 average, 55 home runs, and 164 RBI. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, he was nicknamed Stout Steve for his ample girth, and the Sgt. Bilko character on Phil Silvers' television show was reportedly named for him. He closed out in the majors with a .249 average, 76 home runs, and 276 RBI in 600 games, and died in 1978 at 49. The Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame took him in 2003, the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2015.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 332 | 0 | 25 | 165 | 100 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #184 card?
It is card #184 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Bilko of the Los Angeles Angels.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-05.