MiLB Madness: Earnhardt, Flacco's bro, coach cameos & 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. 

NASCAR MEETS MiLB
The Cards: Dale Earnhardt 2012 Hickory Crawdads
The Buzz On This: The racing icon's Chevy dealership is actually well-represented on MiLB cardboard from the past with several years of card sets including nods to their corporate sponsor. Sometimes, they're cards of office members, new cars, logos or scenic images that inject some horsepower onto the diamond, but this pair of cards -- pocket change-priced finds -- feature The Intimidator himself signing autographs and standing alongside his legendary No. 3. This is a perfect example of the odd things you might not expect to find in baseball card sets from down on the farm.

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

BEFORE THE RANGERS ...
The Card: Evan Carter 2023 Hickory Crawdads pocket schedule
The Buzz On This: This guy had a pretty strong showing with the Texas Rangers last year and a rookie run into the postseason where he got himself a World Series ring as a 20-year-old. This year? Not quite as strong as his average is under .200 and he's hurt. While I don't really have any interest in the Rangers -- at least not enough to dabble more on some Carter cardboard at perhaps premium prices -- this cheap pocket schedule spoke to me for a nothing price. (Ultimately, they can be a good way to get some "name" prospects into your MiLB stash on the cheap if not buying team sets early.) I'm still surprised teams even make them.

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THROWBACK APPEARANCES
The Cards: Columbus Clippers coaches/staff 2005 Choice Columbus Clippers & 1990 ProCards AAA Future Stars
The Buzz On This: It's not uncommon at all to find past big-leaguers on cards in the MiLB coaching and managing ranks as, after all, they're sometimes there working their way to The Show a second time. When Buzz was a little collector, some of my first exposure to MiLB cardboard was with a couple of Clippers team sets (different years than these) and that's where I spotted some names I knew ... so that always has gotten me to look at stuff like this. Here are two examples where past players and now past Yankees managers are on cards ... and some of them have ended up in the majors elsewhere. Managers don't always have a lot to collect these days, so you never know what might be out there or who might be looking or everything for their teams/players.

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CURIOSITY GOT ME ...
The Card: Hector Perez 1983 Fritsch Madison Muskies
The Buzz On This: You ever have those days on the Internet where you click something, read it and end up clicking 17 other things that lead you down a rabbit hole where 30 minutes later you remember the original search that started it all when you're closing all the browser windows? OK, maybe that's just me ... but my rabbit hole on this one isn't about Perez at all. His story is there on the card and I'd bet there's more that happened in the game after that ... but what got me to look here was that locker tape reading "Rooster Wilder." Who could that be? I thought. That turned out to be a player on the team named David and there was a whole lot of story that unraveled from there. It's all summed up here ... a lot happened after MiLB. Why did I have this one? Well, actually, I used to have a boatload of these cards as this set is the home to the first baseball card ever made for Jose Canseco -- I busted so many sets of this one (it's always been in demand) when prices dipped years ago. 

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JOE'S BRO ...
The Card: Michael Flacco 2010 Grandstand Aberdeen Ironbirds
The Buzz On This: Yep, he's the little brother of the Super Bowl-winning quarterback but it's OK if you haven't heard of him. He was a 31st-round draft pick in 2009 and played four seasons, batting .253 with 21 homers and 159 RBI in 353 games. After that, he played college football for the University of New Haven as a tight end and had his eye on some NFL time ... he didn't get drafted but had training camp shots with the Chargers, Jaguars, Jets and Ravens. He actually does have a small amount of cardboard beyond MiLB stuff as he's found in 2009 Bowman Draft and some Upper Deck football releases ... and even some certified football ink.

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"AH, JESUS ... I LIKE HIM VERY MUCH."
The Cards: Jesus Castillo, Jesus Soto, Jesus Rodriguez 2006 Grandstand Ogden Raptors
The Buzz On This: This was just something odd I noticed going through some old team sets where there wasn't a whole lot of star power -- or even any Pedro Cerrano cards if you know that quote -- but finding not one, not two, but three players on the same team with the same name? I can't really say I have noticed that before. None of them made the majors but that's not for trying -- one pitched for 13 years (Rodriguez) and then another (Castillo) pitched 17.

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

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