MiLB Madness: Joey Votto, men of mystery, Moneyball & more

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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. 

NEXT STOP, COOPERSTOWN?
The Card: Joey Votto 2006 Grandstand Southern League Top Prospects
The Buzz On This One: Votto's Rookie Card comes way back in 2002 Bowman Draft -- years before the RC logo cards and him having those, too -- but since he didn't rocket to The Show immediately he does have a few MiLB cards fans can track down that have him in familiar colors and unis but not those he has worn for his Hall of Fame-caliber MLB career. (Note: Why a lame photo? I had this in a semi-rigid for picture time since I contemplated grading it -- just for fun -- but a different one made the cut.) Why go here? These team set cards -- this is from a more-plentiful prospect All-Star set -- are overlooked and cheaper than a lot of stuff. There's also a lot less was likely made, too, vs. stuff in packs. Obscure, cheaper and more unique all make my cardboard collecting radar go off a little more 15-plus years later.

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

HALL OF FAME NEEDS?
The Card: Eddie Murray (and others) 1999 Arizona Fall League #28
The Buzz On This One: This set has a different Hall of Famer who made it into my lineup here in a past month for this series, but this one also jumped out from the pack as it's kind of a simple six-manager card with a Hall of Faner in the mix as well as some others who collectors have seen on cardboard through the years. Is it a big deal? Probably not, but I could see it being a card some Eddie Murray fans out there might have missed ... or a simple addition to a stash of Hall of Famers not in their familiar MLB colors.

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REMEMBER MONEYBALL?
The Card: Jeremy Brown 2006 Grandstand Sacramento River Cats
The Buzz On This One: If you read the book Moneyball, then you know how this guy figured in prominently with an entire chapter focusing on him as a key player and part of Oakland's drafting strategy -- get the player you want even if it means dipping down and drafting him early to save some money. If you only saw the movie Moneyball, then all that "blue plate special" and corduroy talk -- and, heck, the draft itself -- didn't make the cut at all. In fact, Brown was merely a P.S. at the end of the movie -- a metaphor of sorts -- who tripped over first base not knowing he homered. Brown played five games in the majors and in a handful of MiLB seasons but ultimately retired early and opted to work in the Alabama coal mines instead of being constantly reminded of how he was sometimes seen on the diamond. Ironically, when he lost his mining job, he ended up back in baseball. I don't own all of his cards, though there aren't boatloads of them, but when I happen upon them as an Alabama Crimson Tide collector I bite.

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WHERE'S MY PAWTOGRAPH?
The Card: Deuce 2017 Choice Myrtle Beach Pelicans #37
The Buzz On This One: If you know the early years of Topps' Allen & Ginter run, then my joke here works. (A past Ginter card had a paw print "pawtograph" on a card.) This one? Well, it's from a Signature Series styled set, but ... no ink. If you want to know more about Deuce, read the card -- or see some of my past posts in this series. There are a lot of MiLB pups out there with cardboard.

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TROPHY HOLDER
The Card: Gnate The Gnat 2014 Brandt Savannah Sand Gnats #36
The Buzz On This One: Mascots seemingly always get a spot in MiLB team sets and they all create challenges for card backs. This one? It's got some stuff there ... but I popped this one into today's lineup because I think this team's name, logo (see the back) and the mascot here are pretty sweet even if they no longer exist. In 2016, the team moved to Columbia, S.C., to become the Columbia Fireflies.

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INTERNATIONAL MEN OF MYSTERY ...
The Cards: Cliff Shidawara 1986 ProCards Phoenix Firebirds, Wayne Hattaway 1990 Star Orlando Rays #28, Hamlet 1995 Minor Miracles Lake Elsinore Storm #28
The Buzz On This One: Not all baseball cards are informative ... and here are three older MiLB cars that prove it. Are there stories here? Were they baseball lifers or rookies? Whatever happened to Hamlet, anyway? (He was retired in the 2001 season ... but I'll let you Googlers do the searching to see if there's more there. I'm doing the same as the card-back writers on this one ... it's late today and I still have a lot of other stuff to do!)

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