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. 

SAME SET, THIRD STAR ...
The Cards: Bryce Elder 2021 Choice Rome Braves (five copies)
The Buzz On This One: I'll have this third card from this set bat lead-off just like last time and the time before as Elder is off to a very respectable (though not absolutely dominant) start with the Braves this season. The previous strong names I mentioned from this set are Spencer Strider and Michael Harris II and this guy, whose draft pick cards trump this but not much else (the 2021 season was his first as a pro), might be the next one up here in terms of some cardboard success. He pitches tonight but coming into this one he had a 2-0 record with a 2.17 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 29 innings for the Atlanta Braves and he's gone at least five innings in all five of his starts. In some ways, those numbers look better than his three MiLB seasons where he had 256 Ks in 248 innings. As I noted last time, the print run on sets like this -- where there are multiple stars -- might not be on the low side for MiLB releases, but in comparison to packed-out MLB stuff there's no chance that the print run is in the same galaxy. I still like that.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can 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. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

TWO SURPRISES, ONE CARD
The Card: John Lannan & Katrina Mangieri 2021 Choice Trenton Thunder #5
The Buzz On This One: I'm always on the hunt for cards with unusual position players on them as part of this series and this time it's a double-whammy with a mental performance coach and a dietitian sharing a spot on the checklist. I'm 99.99 percent sure nothing like this has ever shown up in an MLB set and it's the weird stuff like this that can make MiLB team sets stand out from the rest. Why do they have cards? Well, they're part of the team. Why don't they have cards at the next level? Probably because those off-field teams are big as it is ... and a lot of players don't get cards or lesser names that do prompt "value" complaints from collectors. (I'm sure of that.) It's inevitably not valuable here -- pocket change -- but it's definitely oddball ... and it's not alone this time.

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. 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.

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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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