MiLB Madness: Ballpark pups invade on National Pet Day

Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

LEADER OF THIS PACK ...
The Card: Rookie 2015 Choice Trenton Thunder #34
The Buzz On This One: Today is National Pet Day, everybody, so Buzz doesn't have to wait for the dog days of summer to unleash this one -- a pack of dogs on baseball cards you won't find in packs of baseball cards but instead some big dogs you'll find down on the farm in MiLB team sets. There are actually a ton of team dogs and baseball cards and, to a degree, a leader in that pack (at least in the non-mascot variety) is the Trenton Thunder. Their dog days started with Chase That Golden Thunder back in 2000. (Buzz doesn't have a degree in ballpark pup history so I don't know which team was first. Watch this for a full story from Derby, his dad.) Rookie is a current star for the team as part of a lineage of bat dogs putting bat boys out of business ... at least at this park. He's not alone ...

Keep reading for more examples of weird baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

BATTING SECOND ...
The Card: Deuce 2014 Choice Myrtle Beach Pelicans #33
The Buzz On This One: Chasing down bats isn't the only role out there for the four-pawed cardboard stars and down in South Carolina Deuce patrolled the field for baseballs. Deuce was the second bat dog for the team following in the footsteps of his older brother, Dinger. These days, Deuce is retired with Slider getting the work in.

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SAME PACK, DIFFERENT TEAM
The Card: Ollie 2011 Grandstand New Hampshire Fisher Cats
The Buzz On This One: Ollie came from part of the Trenton bat dog family per the back of this card ... I guess that makes him Rookie's uncle? (No jokes this month ... I don't want people barking at me on Twitter.) Unfortunately, I don't have any updates since this card as Ollie died last year -- here's his MiLB.com obituary.

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A TEXAS TWEETER
The Card: Brooks 2015 Grandstand Frisco RoughRiders
The Buzz On This One: The title says "team dog" but it looks like he's got waterboy on his duties as well as baseballs and bats down in Texas. The bio here also talks a lot about who trained him. Want more info? Check out the team bios here (under marketing) -- Brooks also works as the CMO, or Chief Morale Officer. And he tweets.

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TWO LEGENDS ... ONE IN COOPERSTOWN
The Cards: Miss Babe Ruth 2012 Multi-Ad Greensboro Grasshoppers #31 & Master Yogi Berra 2013 Brandt Sports Greensboro Grasshoppers #33
The Buzz On This One: This brother-sister duo also got into the game with bat and baseball duties with names that might make you think they were big Yankees fans but, oddly, at this time the Grasshoppers were a Marlins affiliate. Apparently Ruth was older than Yogi and both also ran the bases regularly. According to Baseball America, they are no longer with us nor is their other partner in ballpark duties, Lou Lou Gehrig. According to BA, Yogi is the only dog ever to be ejected from a game and Ruth's bucket is in Cooperstown. Apparently their legacy does live on with Willie Mae who will be in action this season.

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BARK IN THE PARK
The Card: Bob The Baseball Dog 2014 Grandstand State College Spikes
The Buzz On This One: Sadly, Bob is also no longer with us -- his life and role for the team was recapped here -- as of last year. His role with the team, which might have been more of a simple guest greeter/mascot spot based on info on this one, included a ton of baseball cards as he worked for more than one team since back in 2008.

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THE BEST FOR LAST
The Card: Bases Loaded Blitz 2021 Boise Hawks
The Buzz On This One: Apparently this pup is a newcomer as of last year as his father, Kohl The Bat Dog, retired and the fans voted on his ballpark persona. Seriously. (I wish I could see how the submissions looked.) Here's a profile on Blitz last year -- apparently he works Boise State football games, too, as their tee dog. Move over, Bo Jackson ... we have another two-sport star on cardboard.

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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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