MiLB Madness: More Kyle Schwarber, ballpark s’mores & more

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. 

AT THE BEGINNING ...
The Card: Kyle Schwarber 2015 Topps Pro Debut
The Buzz On This: Last time, The Schwarbino was in the leadoff spot here and he’s back as I’m still on a kick ... but this month it’s him in some less-familiar threads. This one has the Pro Debut logo -- meaning its his first from Topps for the MiLB ranks -- while it uses the MLB look of that year with the minor-league unis and logos getting the ride. The team? The Boise Hawks all way up there in Boise, Idaho, and a lot has changed for them since then though the name remains the same. (The Hawks became an independent team back in 2021 when MLB restructured the MiLB ranks.) I like the early big-league looks for Pro Debut as part of the continuity for a player’s cards -- his Rookie Card arrives and MLB run starts in 2016 -- but a collection of his Topps flagships should include this if you ask me.

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

HAVE A DRINK ON ME
The Card: Adam Sparks 2025 Choice Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Buzz On This: The photo is simple yet perfect for a trainer’s card -- he’s apparently focused on hydration during a summer day at the ballpark. (AC/DC would be proud.) You won’t find trainer cardboard anywhere else but MiLB team sets and this one is a debut for him with this team. One could amass a huge collection of oddball cards like this via these sets and the oddballs are a big reason this series exists. Why? Not all cardboard has to be expensive to be interesting. Odd speaks to me.

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IS THAT A S'MORE?
The Card: Slugger 2025 Choice Portland Sea Dogs
The Buzz On This: The first thing that I noticed on this mascot card -- yep, that’s another staple of cardboard from down on the farm -- was its retro design that has some dirtiness to the card back and even across the card’s front and the photo. That’s a cool choice for a set if you ask me as a lot might not like it -- and I’m sure graders might see them as flaws unless you grade more than one card from the set -- but then I looked closer. What the heck is Slugger holding? On a hunch, I did a search and, yes, that is a giant s’more. Why? Apparently those April games up in Portland, Maine, are still quite frosty so the team sells “fireside seats” where tickets are in a picnic area with fire pits and the package comes with s’mores kits and hot chocolate for the game. Really.

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IN THE GAME
The Card: Steph Lombardo 2024 Choice Bradenton Marauders
The Buzz On This: There are a number of women in the coaching ranks for baseball these days -- here’s one item talking about it from the Hall of Fame in recent years -- and there have been even more in the game since that time. Some have popped up in and around the majors, too, and many of them can be found on MiLB cardboard. Expand your scope at this level to trainers and there are even more whose cardboard is basically only found here. Meanwhile, you can rewind literally decades and find even more women with ties to the game in front office roles if not ownership. From time to time I’ll pick off some of them for reminders of all this right here ... and this is one of those times. Want to know more about Lombardo's story beyond what’s on her debut card? Click here for a look at her path back then. She’s a former University of Wisconsin softball player and it looks like she’s an assistant coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers now.

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SETTING THE SCENE AGAIN
The Card: BB&T Ballpark (Charlotte, N.C.) 2016 Choice Pacific Coast League All-Stars set
The Buzz On This: The clean photo got me to notice ... and then I wondered about how, somehow, a stadium in Charlotte -- that’s a three-hour drive to the Atlantic Ocean -- was the venue for a Pacific Coast League All-Star showcase game. (That’s a 42 hour drive to San Francisco, by the way.) This card made more sense once I realized it was that league vs. the International League All-Stars and not an All-Star event just for one of them. To be honest, I never paid attention to the where for these events just the who ... but because of cardboard now I know. They’re like edumacational or something.

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