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. 

BO KNOWS MiLB
The Card: Bo Bichette 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League (image variation)
The Buzz On This: My most-collected active player bats lead-off this time as I just wanted some MLB star power here -- he has that despite a down year in 2024 -- and this one also is a reminder. Of what? That, while the MiLB options in packs are not what they used to be right now, you can find a lot of today's younger stars on Heritage MiLB cards that ran from 1962 to 1973 on cardboard -- that's 2011 to 2022 in reality -- before the line was shelved last year. This was a slightly pricier pick-up vs. my typical stuff dropped here (oddball finds from team sets) as this is a photo variation SP ... a little tougher find but not an impossible one. What might be impossible finds at some point soon or the next few years? Unopened Heritage MiLB boxes and perhaps even some earlier editions of Pro Debut ... they have to have the smallest print runs of anything from Topps in recent years. No new stuff to open in box form has had me looking at singles more and more, despite many older MiLB boxes having affordable prices ... I may dabble with both more next year.

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

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

THERE WERE NO GUARANTEES ... BUT I'LL TAKE IT
The Card: Joe Namath 1973 Topps
The Reason Graded: It's almost Super Bowl time and while I don't really collect any of the names who are going to be in this year's big game, I do collect names who helped make the big game in the past ... and this freshly graded card is a big one in my eyes. It's Namath's final card made by Topps during his career and I found it raw on COMC with is razor-sharp everything -- especially compared to other copies out there -- and decided it was not only grab-worthy, it was also slab-worthy with centering and only one corner with lightness and color immensely minor spotting on the front being the only issues. This one looked very strong for a vintage card so I submitted it for immediate grading directly via COMC, too.
The Grade: CGC 7

Reality Check: I had visions of a higher grade, but the card backs here have dark ink and corners on the backs can be spotty ... and I think that's a reason this one graded lower than I had hoped. But, at the same time, it's a pop-six card with only five CGC 8s grading higher -- and nothing above that. That actually puts this card among the elite for graded copies of this one ... and that's not a bad thing with my total cost here under $30. (The slight spot on the bottom left corner of the card bugged me ... until I realized it's some funk on the surface of the plastic slab, not the card or inside the slab. That's something I hadn't run into with CGC's generally crystal clear and clean slabs.)

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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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. 

YOU'RE NOT IMAGINING THIS PART I ...
The Card: Tooth Fairy 2016 Choice Reading Fightin' Phils Mascot Set
The Buzz On This One: Buzz did a double-take when spotting this card with a single word on my mind after seeing this ... why? Well it's a sponsorship spot for a mascot of sorts who cleans the bases and has a child from the crowd work with her to get the job done at games -- and she's also part of a mascot group while having a message to everybody, of course. The weird part? She's not alone ... keep reading.

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

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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 and here are five example of some oddities in this latest MiLB Madness series item. 

BATTING LEAD-OFF ...
The Card: Double Balonironi Burger 2021 Choice West Virginia Power #30
The Buzz On This One: This edition of the series is all about food and this one is arguably a Rookie Card -- though MiLB cards don't really have RCs -- for a burger apparently a big enough deal that it made the team's annual card set. Why? Well, it's probably not tied to the set sponsor -- Thomas Health hospitals -- but this ballpark "belly buster" seems like it might be an All-Star down on the farm -- check out this video. (Oh, and note the typo on the card front ... an uncorrected error, I think.) I've seen my fair share of cardboard in my day but other than one insert set done at the MLB level a few years ago I'm not sure if I have seen specific food items get their own card before in a MiLB set where, as the point of this series goes, you can see a little bit of everything. Given how much ballpark emphasis there is about food, I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been more. The ingredients are on the back, the fact that it's two pounds is interesting and it's ironic they mask the calorie content. Perhaps the next card will have something to say about that.

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

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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 and here are five example of some oddities in this latest MiLB Madness series item. 

BO BEFORE THE SHOW
The Card: Bo Bichette 2017 Choice Midwest League All-Stars
The Buzz On This One: I've found myself buying more cards of this guy than any other lately and some of the more-obscure stuff like this can be right up there on my radar more than second- or third-year Bowman stuff. Why? MiLB team sets and then loaded All-Star team sets like this one are inevitably a lot rarer than a lot of the basics for popular prospecting releases. Are they pricey? Oftentimes, no, but they simply have to be far more limited. (All-Star sets are likely the more plentiful of the two types as they are often sold by every team in a league.) You can find big names from the past in All-Star sets and they can be loaded with talent while standard team sets can be pricier but really only for a card or two. Now ... on to some weirder cardboard like I always have in hand for this series.

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

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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 and here are five example of some oddities in this latest MiLB Madness series item. 

BIG DEBUT ...
The Cards: Tyler Gilbert 2016 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws (in team sets)
The Buzz On This One: Gilbert arrived in the Arizona Diamondbacks rotation on Saturday as a 27-year-old rookie and struck out 10 in his first start -- a no-hitter. That's something just three other players have done in all of MLB history, instantly making him a big name for the moment and that moment led people to look for his baseball cards. With all of the prospect releases that arrive seemingly weekly, he'd never appeared on anything found in a pack, just MiLB team sets. (And then a Topps Now card on Sunday.) Rather than grab the new card -- 5,791 copies sold -- I opted for what may be his first MiLB card at a lower cost. I landed three of these team sets for just $4 apiece as they were on clearance via the team's site. (Meanwhile, on eBay? It was insanity ... I'm sure they all get paid for.) He pitches again tonight so we'll see how start No. 2 goes.

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

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With the COVID-19 pandemic erasing pretty much everything in the sports world right now, ESPN's decision to launch The Last Dance early is a jolt of nostalgia that's fueling plenty of extra demand for some already legendary basketball cards from the past.

The eagerly awaited 10-part documentary arrives Sunday night at 9 p.m. Eastern and it tells the story of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls and their final championship run -- their third title in three years and sixth of that decade. It obviously keys upon the NBA's greatest player of all time and its biggest name on cardboard, Michael Jordan. But he's far from alone as the series will present original and new footage from that season as well as interviews from the players -- both on the court and beyond -- back then. We'll also hear from others from around the league who were on the court or covering the team as it commanded attention, won it all and then was forced to go their separate ways.

For Jordan, that meant a second retirement and return with the Washington Wizards three years later -- we probably won't hear a word about that (call it a hunch) -- but we'll be hearing plenty from many involved every Sunday night (two installments per evening) from here until May 17. If you're a new collector wanting to jump on the Jordan bandwagon it's not going to be easy -- you're about 35 years and 13,000 cards too late -- and the asking prices for many a Jordan gem are though the roof more now than ever. However, if you're a fan who missed some of the historic action back then there are still plenty of ways to dabble in cardboard from The Last Dance as it's ultimately a tale that's not just about Jordan.

Keep reading for 12 ways to explore the cardboard for The Last Dance ... both for Jordan and others who we'll see often every Sunday night.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Living Set #179 RC
The Reason Graded: While I own a few Topps Living Set cards the arrival of this second-generation MLB star in this weekly release sparked my first purchase from this popular brand that's clearly popular with flippers. I ponied up for 10 copies of the card --solely with potential grading in mind -- but didn't receive a single perfectly centered card in my batch, which was a bummer. After some grumbling, I picked out this one from the batch and sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded as well as I thought it could -- maybe better -- so I wasn't unhappy with the grade and it appears that I'm perhaps on the luckier side with just two 10s out there better than it via BGS ... for now. This is a card that will likely be graded more and more often so those won't last but but it appears that this one is arriving between 8.5 and 9.5 more often than not. I have a second one I'll submit to PSA at some point with my sights set on a 10 there. We'll see sometime later this year.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Trevor Rogers, SP, Marlins — Low-A Greensboro Grasshoppers
Season so far: 1-4 with 5.13 ERA, 65 strikeouts and 20 walks in 54.1 innings (12 starts)
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Rogers has worked six or more innings in his last three starts, culminating with Sunday’s gem, where he struck out a career-best 12 batters and carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 300
First Chrome auto: 2017 Bowman Draft
One auto to consider: 2016 Leaf Metal Perfect Game
Buzz’s card take: His season numbers look a little LaLooshian but he was the 13th overall pick in last year's draft and he's on the Marlins so they'll take it -- and the potential. The recent games look relatively solid, so if you're sold on the potential of a Marlins pitcher then you might want to bite.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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