MiLB Madness: The Real Nuke's missing autograph, Mr. Celery, a baseball lifer's check, a big-leaguer's debut, mascots & 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. 

THIS CARD GOT ... NUKED
The Card: Steve Dalkowski 2009 TRISTAR Obak Autographs (unsigned)
The Buzz On This: This one comes from a set that features a lot of minor-league names you know and others you don't -- and in this case, well, you probably know the type of player (check his real, yet unreal, stats) but not this particular card. The back notes the trivia that gets him here -- click here to learn more in The Buzz Archives -- but that's not why I had to have this. This is the card that was planned for Dalkowski as a certified autograph to go into packs but it was never released. Sheets of this released did get out with this and other cards on them, which were then cut down into singles and I had to have it. I had eyed the sheets for a long time but never bit -- storage is just not as easy with uncut sheets.

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

CHECK IT OUT ...
The Items: Ellis "Cot" Deal signed 1978 Pittsburgh Pirates payroll check & 1978 TCMA Columbus Clippers card
The Buzz On This: If you look up his name on Baseball Reference, there are some weird things -- not Dalkowski weird, but weird. He made his MLB debut in 1947 with the Red Sox but didn't exhaust his rookie eligibility until 1954 -- and that came after playing his earliest MiLB games at age 17 back in 1940. Deal pitched five MLB games his first year, four the next year, three in 1950 and then 33 in 1954 ... all with results that are pretty rough. (A career negative-1.9 WAR.) In all, he spent 16 years in the minors, too, but all that wasn't even why this check caught my attention for a few bucks along with others (this was the best one) a while back. I couldn't figure why, at a basic glance, Deal would be getting a check from the Pirates all those years later. I struck out checking Pirates info but then I did a card search and found him on this Clippers piece -- they were the Pirates' Triple-A team. (Now, it made sense ... I was surprised the MLB club would be cutting the checks for down on the farm.) It turns out that he was a coach for 22 years after his long playing career, spent five more years as a manager and one more in the front office. That's a lot of baseball -- 1940 To 1989;  see the ins and outs here -- and not too many baseball cards. There are so many careers out there like this with a modest amount of cardboard where you can collect it all.

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MY FAVORITE MARTIAN?
The Card: Cosmo 2018 Choice Las Vegas 51s
The Buzz On This: "You looking at me?" It might be hard to answer that with those tentacle eyes, but ever since I saw this guy on a card long ago I've often stopped, given a card a glance and either laughed or grabbed it. This is both of those times ... and it's even got a Burger King plug just randomly plopped in there for an extra chuckle as a MiLB staple. (Gotta have those corporate sponsors.) Also, note the Star Wars reference and ... Koufaxia!

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BEFORE THE SHOW & THE HAIR
The Card: Dallas Braden 2004 Vancouver Canadians
The Buzz On This: Before he threw a single MiLB pitch, before all those MLB innings, before the perfect game, before all that TV time and, of course, before all that hair, there was this card. I believe it was his first MiLB release so it gets a nod this month. Simple as that.

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COLLECT 'EM ALL ...
The Card: Jerry Walker & Bill Tucker 2005 Grandstand Salem-Keizer Volcanoes & Kyle Porter 2005 Grandstand Lakeland Tigers
The Buzz On This: What's the deal here? I liked the contrast of cardboard -- a pair of team owners and a clubby both posing with the ol' ball cart for their cardboard. The owners have a lengthy bio going on there, while Porter is a newcomer to the team on his card in a set that's home to another newcomer you might know ... Justin Verlander.

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THE CRACK OF THE ... CELERY?
The Card: Mr. Celery 2014 Choice Wilmington Blue Rocks
The Buzz On This: Do I really need to explain this? Read that card back. Stay weird, MiLB. (More on Mr. Celery is here.)

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