Miguel Dilone - protecting his soul

Yesterday I came up with some pretty childish reasons why Miguel Dilone was looking away from the camera on the 1978 Pirates team card. Reader GCRL came up with a much better reason - "Maybe he believes that the camera will snatch his soul if he looks directly into the lens."

Looking at Dilone's travels through the major leagues would seem to give credence to that theory.

Oakland - facing the camera but looking off to the left.

Chicago - head shot, but looking to the right.

Cleveland - head shot, but looking to the left.

Montreal - Topps didn't even bother with a posed shot this time, just snapped him from the side during batting practice.

Hate to end the post on a down note, but any discussion of Miguel Dilone's eyes has to note that he lost an eye last March in a freak batting practice accident in the Dominican Republic. Hope he is doing well a year later.