[GeoPoto]

Card 2: William T. "Bill" Burns. "Sleepy Bill". Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1908-1909. 30 wins and 2 saves in 5 MLB seasons. His career ERA was 2.72 in 717.2 innings pitched for 5 different MLB teams, ending in 1912 with the Detroit Tigers. He twice lost no-hitters with two outs in the ninth. He was key go-between in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.

Bill Burns Piedmont 350: Bill Burns cards are common (PSA-580). PSA has graded seven Burns T206 cards as PSA 7s with one 7.5, four 8s and a 9. Burns is in Print Group 2. One of the features of this card that has always fascinated me, is that the image shows Burns awkwardly brandishing what appears to be a glove for his left hand but wearing it on his right hand!?

Heritage/Rounders Entry: Graded 7 by PSA this card also sports the sharp corners and edges you would expect for the grade. It also presents a good image with an unblemished surface. However, to my eye, the registration is off a tick. The back is okay with moderate fading. This card is centered significantly left but is well-centered top to bottom. With the exception of the left border, the borders are good. Unfortunately, it appears that the left border is missing half of itself.

My Entry: Graded 6 by PSA this card presents well. The edges and corners are sound, and the image is clear with a few minor surface scuffs. The centering is slightly left, but good overall. The borders are strong. The back is clean with vibrant color, marred only by minor staining.

Comparison: The H/R card is a clean, nice image with no blemishes and sharp edges and corners. My card has a nice image but does show some surface wear. The H/R back is okay, but my back has more vibrant color, which is offset by mild staining. The H/R card is not well centered and while my card is also centered left, my card's centering is much better. The top-and-bottom borders are similarly good on both cards. However, my card has a clear advantage side-to-side as the right borders are similar and my card has a larger left border.

My conclusion: I like my card. While the H/R card has cleaner surfaces, the blemishes on my card are minor and the underlying image is sharper than the H/R card. I think the clearer image would make my card slightly preferred even if it wasn't significantly better centered and didn't have stronger borders. But it is and does. Seems like a clear tilt in favor of my card.

The bottom line: If we ignore resale value, I would not trade my card for the H/R card. I think my card is better.

Additional Bill Burns Fun Fact: Twice in May of 1911, Reds manager Clark Griffith wanted to put Burns into a game as a relief pitcher, only to find that Burns was not warming up as instructed but was asleep on the clubhouse bench.