MiLB Madness: Weighty cards, trios, name games & mascots

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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. 

PUMP IT UP!
The Card: Ben Chadwick 2019 Grandstand Portland Sea Dogs
The Buzz On This: A card of a strength coach isn't all that unusual in the world of minor-league cardboard, but a deep squat with a good amount of weight on there, too, isn't the norm at all. That gets this one into the lead-off spot ... it's just stupid and that's what I am here for when it comes to MiLB cards. (Shrug.) I actually stumbled upon a few cards of trainers recently but this one really is the oddest one visually and as far as I can tell, he's still banging and clanging in the Red Sox organization a few years after this one arrived.

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

IMMACULATE TRIOS!
The Cards: John Hart, Ron Washington & Billy Ripken 1987 ProCards Rochester Red Wings; Ryan Klesko, Mark Wohlers & Vinny Castilla 1992 Richmond Comix & Cardz Richmond Braves; Denny Neagle, Chuck Knoblauch & Scott Erickson 1990 Star Orlando SunRays
The Buzz On This: "A GM, a manager and an MLB Network analyst walk into a bar" is how I initially thought I'd write this one as just a trio of 1987 cards presented themselves flipping through a box of MiLB names, but then I found two more trios of note as I kept going and figured I'd drop them all at once. What's my overall point? The further back you go with MiLB sets they can get drier for sure but at the same time you might run into pockets of names where they had pretty solid big-league careers. In fact, seven of the nine players here have a World Series ring and they have nine total between them. A lot of these guys' cards came in the over-production years -- and even these sets are generally not all that rare -- but stuff like this could have higher asking prices than you might think ... and if people need their cards (for whatever reason) they may not have a lot of options vs. standard stuff from the major MLB sets back in the day.

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WRONG ONE
The Card: Adrian Gonzalez 2017 Choice Aberdeen IronBirds
The Buzz On This: Player Any time a familiar name pops up on a MiLB card it gets a double-take from me, and this is one of those cases. No, this isn't the five-time All-Star who hit more than 300 homers across 15 big-league seasons, Adrian Gonzalez is a trainer but with this photo I initially thought he might be working the equipment room. It's not the first time I have seen stacks of towels on a card -- poke around here and you'll see at least one impressive one in past editions of this series ... and maybe more.

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ANOTHER PATRIOT NAMED BRADY ...
The Card: Amanda Brady 2022 Choice Somerset Patriots
The Buzz On This: "Advance scouting analyst" is what got me to bite here for a pocket-change pick-up to add to my oddball MiLB stash -- it certainly wasn't the extensive bio on the back of this card I know that much. I was fascinated to see the design for the 2018 All In wrestling set was used here, too ... so I suspect it's a sign that Choice was the maker for that one. An extra bonus here is the fact that it's a Brady and a Patriot ... but not Tom.

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ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS
The Card: Crash The River Rascal 1995 Blue Cross/Blue Shield West Michigan Whitecaps
The Buzz On This: Check out all the stats on the back of this card -- it includes standing height, sitting height, weight in pre-schoolers, shoe size, a daily diet to die for (high on protein) and an 0-for-70 showing in a mascot dash against kids under seven years old. There's no way Blooper would let that happen.

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STORM TEAM ASSEMBLE!
The Card: Mascots (Casey, Stormy and Vortex) 2011 Multi-Ad Sports Omaha Storm Chasers
The Buzz On This: Mascots are everywhere in MiLB sets -- they are team icons and continuity for kids, fans and card collectors year after year as players change all the time -- and this one throws that whole team onto one card with some corporate sponsor plugging, too. (Not all that uncommon.) What I didn't realize when I grabbed this was that the back was so bare bones ... it only tells their names and I actually missed that at first glance. Normally, mascot cards can be a serious showcase of some of the most-absurd card backs ever made ... not this one.

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