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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. 

TWO SURPRISES, ONE CARD
The Card: John Lannan & Katrina Mangieri 2021 Choice Trenton Thunder #5
The Buzz On This One: I'm always on the hunt for cards with unusual position players on them as part of this series and this time it's a double-whammy with a mental performance coach and a dietitian sharing a spot on the checklist. I'm 99.99 percent sure nothing like this has ever shown up in an MLB set and it's the weird stuff like this that can make MiLB team sets stand out from the rest. Why do they have cards? Well, they're part of the team. Why don't they have cards at the next level? Probably because those off-field teams are big as it is ... and a lot of players don't get cards or lesser names that do prompt "value" complaints from collectors. (I'm sure of that.) It's inevitably not valuable here -- pocket change -- but it's definitely oddball ... and it's not alone this time.

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

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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. 

LEADER OF THIS PACK ...
The Card: Rookie 2015 Choice Trenton Thunder #34
The Buzz On This One: Today is National Pet Day, everybody, so Buzz doesn't have to wait for the dog days of summer to unleash this one -- a pack of dogs on baseball cards you won't find in packs of baseball cards but instead some big dogs you'll find down on the farm in MiLB team sets. There are actually a ton of team dogs and baseball cards and, to a degree, a leader in that pack (at least in the non-mascot variety) is the Trenton Thunder. Their dog days started with Chase That Golden Thunder back in 2000. (Buzz doesn't have a degree in ballpark pup history so I don't know which team was first. Watch this for a full story from Derby, his dad.) Rookie is a current star for the team as part of a lineage of bat dogs putting bat boys out of business ... at least at this park. He's not alone ...

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

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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 and here are five example of some oddities in this latest MiLB Madness series item. 

BATTING LEAD-OFF ...
The Card: Double Balonironi Burger 2021 Choice West Virginia Power #30
The Buzz On This One: This edition of the series is all about food and this one is arguably a Rookie Card -- though MiLB cards don't really have RCs -- for a burger apparently a big enough deal that it made the team's annual card set. Why? Well, it's probably not tied to the set sponsor -- Thomas Health hospitals -- but this ballpark "belly buster" seems like it might be an All-Star down on the farm -- check out this video. (Oh, and note the typo on the card front ... an uncorrected error, I think.) I've seen my fair share of cardboard in my day but other than one insert set done at the MLB level a few years ago I'm not sure if I have seen specific food items get their own card before in a MiLB set where, as the point of this series goes, you can see a little bit of everything. Given how much ballpark emphasis there is about food, I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been more. The ingredients are on the back, the fact that it's two pounds is interesting and it's ironic they mask the calorie content. Perhaps the next card will have something to say about that.

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

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun ... or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

WORKS FOR ME
The Card: Dan Marino 1984 Topps #123 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I never really aspired to own a Dan Marino RC -- or a number of other notables from the past -- but this one presented itself on the cheaper side of things for this card (about $135) and considering how this one looks I grabbed it. Why? Go window-shopping for these cards raw -- it can be depressing to see how sloppy the printing and cutting can be for this set. (Want more proof of extreme possibilites? Click here.)
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: I knew this was a strong grade for this card but I didn't look at the pop report for this heavily graded and iconic Hall of Famer RC. Just 415 check in at a higher mark out of nearly 9,000 graded -- less than 5 percent of the total grade higher -- and this one accounts for just seven percent of the total population for this card. My card isn't perfect -- there's a minor couple of spots in the black border line above "Dan" and some very, very minor specs here and there on the edges but at a glance there are not massive differences here vs. higher grades ... other than the fact that a BGS 10 copy of this card has sold on eBay for more than $4,500. I'll take mine all day long -- and getting a nine here is tough as it is.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Brailyn Marquez, LHP, Cubs — Low-A South Bend Cubs
Baseball America’s highlight line: “The unquestioned best pitching prospect in the Cubs’ system, Marquez put together his best start as a pro on July 25. The lefthander set a career-high with 14 strikeouts, doing so in part with a fastball that touched as high as 101 mph. The start continued a stellar July in which Marquez has whiffed 33 batters in 21.1 innings. He’s also allowed just one home run since May 1."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): Only MiLB team set cards
First Chrome auto: None yet
One auto to consider: None yet
Buzz’s card take: This 20-year-old is in his fourth season of MiLB ball and his total numbers aren't overwhelming -- 11-11 with a 3.45 ERA and 253 strikeouts in 224 innings. It's this season that has that Ks ratio up so that's a good sign but he's got nothing but MiLB team set cards to chase right now. He should be one to watch once he gets some prospect cardboard in packs but this feels like a long-term watch since he's still in A-ball.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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