Minor League Baseball Cards

pigeonball

I primarily collect PSA 10 Minor League Baseball cards of HOF and future HOF players. I have a few rarities like the 1983 Puckett Fritsch and 1982 Gwynn Islanders both as PSA 10s. I am interested in participating in a registry set but have found no minor league sets on the registry. After submitting a registry request, I was denied due to it being too specific. Does anyone have interest in scarce minor league cards and/or advice on building a registry set that collectors might take interest in? Thanks for any advice!

bishop

Pigeon---sounds like a worthwhile project, and I hope you get some takers. I am from St Louis originally but have lived in San Antonio a long time now. There is a double A minor team here and I have collected their team sets over the years, and recently ended up with the 2012 Topps Heritage minor league set. But have nothing unique or valuable on the minor league front, and in amy event am an old timer who still collects cards in their natural state, so of no help in registry matters

Al

Alfiewt

Hi Pigeon,

It sounds like you have a fantastic collection and I hope you are able to display it on the registry at some point. Did you request minor league card sets for individual players? I can't imagine a minor league set for a player being too specific for the registry when you consider all the specialty sets they list. I think minor league card sets would be very popular on the registry and I know there are lots of collectors that specialize in minor league cards. I really hope you succeed in getting some minor league card sets added to the registry and hope to see your cards listed!

pigeonball

Bishop, thanks for your response. Out of curiosity, what company produces the double A sets you collect in San Antonio? One of the companies like Grandstand or Multi-ad? I have to tell you, part of the reason I got into MLB stars' minor league cards - aside from the fact that they are more rare, depict the players in their youth and are often more difficult to track down in great condition - is that they are mostly produced by relatively small businesses as opposed to their Topps, Upper Dect, etc. counterparts.

pigeonball

Alfiewt, thanks for your thoughts and I hope you're correct that other collectors would take interest in minor league registry sets. My PSA set request was for a HOF set called: "First and Rarest Minor League Issues of HOF and Future HOF Players." It was loosely based on the very popular "Future HOF Rookie Players" HOF set. Here was my proposed set:
ISSUE CARD # WEIGHT
1975 TCMA INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE GARY CARTER 21 5
1977 TCMA EVANSVILLE TRIPLETS JACK MORRIS 4
1979 TCMA MEMPHIS CHICKS TIM RAINES 20 4
1979 TCMA OGDEN A'S RICKEY HENDERSON 9 8
1980 CHARLOTTE O'S POLICE ORANGE BORDER CAL RIPKEN JR. 10
1980 TCMA READING PHILLIES RYNE SANDBERG 22 9
1981 TCMA PAWTUCKET RED SOX WADE BOGGS 15 3
1982 TCMA HAWAII ISLANDERS TONY GWYNN 10 8
1983 FRITSCH VISALIA OAKS KIRBY PUCKETT 6 8
1985 TCMA SYRACUSE CHIEFS FRED MCGRIFF 2 3
1986 PROCARDS CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS EDGAR MARTINEZ 3
1986 PROCARDS GREENVILLE BRAVES TOM GLAVINE 4
1986 PROCARDS LAKELAND TIGERS JOHN SMOLTZ 4
1986 PROCARDS PITTSFIELD CUBS GREG MADDUX 7
1986 PROCARDS WEST PALM BEACH RANDY JOHNSON 6
1987 BDK PAN-AM TEAM USA FRANK THOMAS 23 2
1987 BELLINGHAM MARINERS TEAM ISSUE KEN GRIFFEY JR. 15 2
1987 ROCK'S WICHITA PILOTS ROBERTO ALOMAR 14 3
1988 BALLPARK CAPE COD PROSPECTS JEFF BAGWELL 4 3
1988 PROCARDS EASTERN LEAGUE ALL-STARS OMAR VIZQUEL E-37 1
1988 PROCARDS TUCSON TOROS CRAIG BIGGIO 166 3
1989 PROCARDS BILLINGS MUSTANGS TREVOR HOFFMAN 2068 2
1989 PROCARDS CHARLESTON RAINBOWS PEDRO MARTINEZ 992 2
1989 PROCARDS GASTONIA RANGERS IVAN RODRIGUEZ 1006 3
1989 PROCARDS ST. CATHARINES BLUE JAYS CARLOS DELGADO 2077 1
1989 SALEM DODGERS TEAM ISSUE MIKE PIAZZA 25 2
1990 CLASSIC DRAFT PICKS CHIPPER JONES 1 1
1990 DIAMOND CARDS TAMPA YANKEES MARIANO RIVERA 17 5
1990 PROCARDS BURLINGTON INDIANS JIM THOME 3018 1
1990 ROCHESTER RED WINGS TEAM ISSUE MIKE MUSSINA 12 1
1992 FRONT ROW DRAFT PICKS GOLD DEREK JETER 55 7
1993 HAWAII WINTER LEAGUE ICHIRO SUZUKI 5 5
1995 BEST TOP 100 ROY HALLADAY 125 1
1995 SP TOP PROSPECTS UNSIGNED PROMO VLADIMIR GUERRERO 1
1997 BEST DAVID ORTIZ 74 1
1998 APPALACHIAN LEAGUE PROSPECT C.C. SABATHIA 16 1
2000 MULTI-AD MIDWEST LEAGUE TOP PROSPECTS W/CARD # ALBERT PUJOLS 20 3
2000 MULTI-AD UTICA BLUE SOX MIGUEL CABRERA 1
Divisor: 138.0

So, as you can see, it was too specific and maybe too large, but I am more than willing to amend it. However, as for player sets, many of these great stars only had one minor league issue (or, perhaps a handful), so I'm not sure that a player set would work.

Thanks again for your response and I would greatly appreciate any further suggestions/ideas as I would really like to participate in the registry.

pigeonball

Whoops. Sorry the card# and weight didn't line up very well but hopefully you get the idea.

markmac

markmac

No 1982 Columbus Clippers Don Mattingly?

pigeonball

Mark, I actually own a 1982 Columbus Mattingly and his 1981 Arby's card but, as much as I hate it, am not so sure about his HOF chances at this point...sorry. I also took a cue from the HOF set I mentioned before: "Future HOF Rookie Players."

bishop

Pigeon... 3 different producers, Grandstand, Multi Ad Sports, and Best Cards Inc

NickM

At this point, I recommend that you try to have them create a registry set of the top minor league cards of current HOFers. As players are elected to the Hall, their cards can be added to the set.

IMO it is more likely to be approved as a set this way.

Nick

pigeonball

Nick, thanks for your feedback. I'll give your recommendation a shot!