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

ONE MORE DURHAM NOD ...
The Card: Steve Dalkowski 2009 TRISTAR Obak T212 Minis Green (/25)
The Buzz On This: This set isn't one limited to MiLB players per se -- it's more about the history and oddities around baseball at every level in every direction -- and it's not one issued in team sets, either. But, this card popped up in my digging for unique and different stuff with a story and, well, this one has it. Dalkowski is a legendary minor-leaguer whose powerful arm -- and unruly control -- inspired Bull Durham creator Ron Shelton to create Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh. How unruly was he? As an 18-year-old in Class D- Kingsport in 1957 he struck out 121 batters in 62 innings. He also walked 129 while recording a 1-8 record in 15 games. That's 17.6 Ks per nine innings and 18.7 walks per nine. The next season, he went 4-10 with a 7.63 ERA, striking out 203 batters in 118 innings and walking 245. The final stats, though not complete due to it being MiLB and being way back in the day, are impressive. You can find his only MLB card in 1963 Topps among the higher-numbers (despite never actually pitching in MLB) and basically his cards in this release are the only other option. He was slated to sign certified autos for it, too, but they were never completed. This one will always be an add for me if I see them.

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

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Making it to The Show takes a little bit of luck, a lot of talent, a lot of work and often help from others such as coaches and family members.

Photographer Bill Stephan with his son's dog, Wilson.

While New York Yankees prospect Trevor Stephan hasn't gotten there just yet, he does have a taste of big-league cardboard and he had some family help there, too. How? His dad, Bill, was the photographer for several of his baseball cards made so far showing him as a member of the Yankees organization.

"I knew there was a possibility that Topps would use one of my photographs as they contacted me through my son’s agent before spring training [last year]," said the 55-year-old manufacturing executive and father of two. "For a baseball dad, it’s a pretty cool thing to have one of your photographs used as a baseball card image. I wasn’t concerned about being paid."

The 23-year-old pitcher appears on more than 150 different cards in all from three 2017 prospect releases and five products from last year -- and his dad's photos can be found on cards in at least three of them, 2018 Bowman Chrome, 2018 Bowman Draft and 2018 Bowman Platinum along with all of their various parallel versions.

Those baseball cards show the 6-foot-5 225 right-hander and former University of Arkansas standout as a member of the Staten Island Yankees but were edited to reflect the uniform of the 27-time World Series champions. In two seasons of minor-league ball, the former third-round pick is 7-10 with a 3.18 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 158-plus innings. Early last season, Baseball America noted his quick path to Double-A ball and noted he "could be closer than expected to The Bronx."

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