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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. 

WELL BEFORE PHILLY
The Card: Kyle Schwarber 2015 Topps Heritage Minor League
The Buzz On This: This MiLB card isn't one that came from a team set since Heritage is an in-pack brand of the past (it was killed off in recent years) and it was one that revisited old MLB designs with today's printing and today's stars. This is a re-do of the 1966 Topps set showing Schwarber after his first season as a minor-leaguer. Schwarber has got plenty of prospect cards showing him in a Cubs uniform and his college colors as well -- those arrived the year before this one and his USA Baseball stuff actually arrived two years before this. In short, he's got a lot of cardboard -- and that's a good thing for collectors who like his slugging ways (I do). He doesn't have as much cardboard in actual MiLB uniforms, so that's why I picked this off on the night of his All-Star Game heroics. This was my first target but you'll see more of him on his few minor-league cards here in the future.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can 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. 

WAIT, WHAT? ... PART 2
The Item: Kerry Wood & Pat Cline (aka "Future Stars") 1997 Best Orlando Rays
The Buzz On This: Last month, I showed off a card that surprised me as I'd never seen it before and this one is a sequel -- this time, it's former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood in a Rays jersey from a team set and not a card found in packs from the former card-maker known as Best. It's once again Wood with the Orlando Rays with a uni look that absolutely moved south to Tampa Bay the following summer, not a Chicago Cubs jersey. (These Rays were a Cubs farm team.) It's one of two Wood cards in that set -- spoiler: look for Wood one last time here next month -- and this is a quick, quirky start to this month's piece. A familiar face in an unfamiliar look is a fun part of MiLB cardboard ... so stuff like this can make for a cool collection. This one just looks extra different with a MiLB logo that became an MLB logo.

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

Continue reading →