MiLB Madness: Money Mike, MLB managers, mascots & more

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. 

GOING OFF THE RADAR ...
The Cards: Michael Harris 2021 Choice Rome Braves (five copies)
The Buzz On This One: This guy is likely to be on my collecting radar quite a bit this year after a near-cardless 2022 that saw him take home the National League Rookie of The Year honors with the Atlanta Braves. Before that, "Money Mike" had some prospect cards in packs and minor league cards count there, too, but his Rookie Cards were held to appear in the full 2023 lineup. With basic stuff like 2023 Topps figuring to the plentiful and prices all over the place right now, I opted to pick up a lot of these -- as team sets -- as he's in there and so are others (you'll see them in later months here) instead ... and I did it without breaking the bank. He has other MiLB cards -- but not a ton -- but this one looked good to me for the price. I'll probably grade some of these, too, as you can probably guess based on the cases they're in right here.

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

JUST ANOTHER RALLY SQUIRREL ...
The Cards: Ace 2013 & 2014 Grandstand Lake Elsinore Storm cards
The Buzz On This One: This guy is kind of a big deal. Don't believe me? Click and read those card blurbs ... so many name drops and humblebrags. It's just nutty. Did Ace have a "Rookie Card" in 2012 or is the 2013 card his first? I have some extra research to do ...

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I'M HERE TO PUMP YOU UP!
The Card: Dax Fiore 2016 Choice Rochester Red Wings
The Buzz On This One: Believe it or not, there are a number of MiLB strength coaches with cards in team sets -- in fact, I'd almost expect them otherwise I'd fear a set might be boring -- but there aren't many that bring as much weight (literally) and as much potential clangin' and bangin' as Fiore and his 50s here. This card is a bit old but he's still in baseball as a strength and conditioning coach for the Detroit Tigers. You'll see more like this in this series sometime this summer.

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OLD FACES IN NEWER PLACES
The Cards: Mickey Hatcher, Jeffrey Leonard, Ron Hassey, Brett Butler, Frank White, Norm Sherry, Lance Parrish & Von Hayes assorted MiLB cards as managers
The Buzz On This One: If you opened packs of cards in the 1980s or have dipped back into those years to rip, then you found most of these guys on cardboard. What you may or may not know is that after their playing days ended their cardboard days did not ... and these are examples. You can find even more past big-leaguers on coaches cards, too, and you never know who you might find until you scan a checklist. This could be the simplest of collecting niches one could take on -- hundreds of cards should be out there waiting, maybe more -- without breaking the bank.

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NO AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE ... I'M WORKING HERE
The Card: Buzz 2014 Choice Burlington Bees
The Buzz On This One: I'll pick off a mascot card or two (or twenty) and could easily just cough up quips about them here in full lineups every month but that would be too easy. Believe it or not, this isn't Buzz ... I'm not seven feet tall. Interestingly, this set appears to have been one that was designed to encourage autographs on that front panel ... but is Buzz a willing signer at the ballpark? These things I wonder about sometimes when sorting through way too much cardboard.

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THE FIRST TIME
The Card: Rocket City Trash Pandas Team Card 2021 Choice Rocket City Trash Pandas
The Buzz On This One: Team cards can sometimes include big names on them without a big-name price -- of course you get a little-time look at them if you can even tell who they are at all in photos like this one. In this case, I picked off this card as a nod to greatness -- a reason to mention what is one of the better new team names and mascots/concepts in the game. You might know a few names on that checklist, too, but this one is here thanks to the sheer marketing power of the Trash Pandas.

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

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