1987 Albany-Colonie Yankees (ProCards)

This is the one Yankee set I got in the lot, the first of several sets from 1987 ProCards, which features a simple, clean design.

 

It's cool to get cards of players in a Yankee uniform who I don't come across every day. Even cooler when they were major leaguers for other teams but not the Yankees.

I didn't know until I got this card that Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez was a Yankees minor leaguer.

Brooklyn native Maurice Guercio's daughter is a singer on the television show "The Voice".

1989 Vancouver Canadians (CMC)

Here is the AAA team for the Chicago White Sox. A very colorful card set.

 It's fun to get new cards of guys like John Pawlowski or Rick Rodriguez (pitcher with a bat!). If your collection is limited to just major league cards you might only have one or two cards of these players. It's fun to see them in a new pose.

 The late Moe Drabowsky was one of the most colorful characters in baseball. Very cool to get a card of him.

1991 Batavia Clippers (Classic Best)

It looks like the Classic and Best companies must have merged in 1991, because instead of Best cards, you get Classic Best cards for the next couple of years. The set is similar to the main Classic Best set, though with a black line at the bottom with the player's info. The pics in the set are pretty generic and are all against the same background.

For most of his twelve-year pro baseball career, whenever Matt Whisenant was sitting in the bullpen and heard a call to "Get Whisenant up," it referred to him.

 Except for his year in Batavia, where there was a pitcher named John Whisonant.

Chipper the Clipper really needs a bigger shirt.

Carlos Subero on baseball cards

Infielder Carlos Subero played five seasons in the Royals, Pirates and Rangers organizations. He has since gone on to a lengthy career as a minor league manager, currently with the Dodgers AA team in Chattanooga. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

-Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players?
Once when I was a fan, a pitcher for Leones del Caracas in winter ball, called Don Heinkel, wrote John 3:16 on his baseball card. I was a kid and it impacted me that players could share their faith on a baseball card with a verse. Now a days is something I do.
- Do you have a favorite card of yourself or of another player?
I used to be a big collector, even as a player, the first thing I would look up was where were the baseball card shops. I collected different ones, Ozzie Guillen was my favorite, Ozzie Smith, Tony Fernandez, Roberto Alomar and Eric Davis.
- Do you collect baseball cards?
Not anymore, but I do keep my collection in Venezuela, in great condition.

Thanks!

1989 Charlotte Knights

This set does not appear to be affiliated with a major manufacturer. The set for this Cubs minor league team is sponsored by Toyota of Charlotte and Smitty's Baseball Cards, a long defunct baseball card store. The design and photos are both pretty generic.

The trainer card is pretty interesting, though. This is not the future Braves catcher, but a guy who would end up being an assistant trainer for the Chicago Cubs in the early 90's, according to The Greatest 21 Days.

 "He is single and his interests include deep sea fishing, scuba diving, big game hunting, and girl watching." Look out, girls.

1989 Riverside Red Wave (Best)

Unlike some of the other Best sets, the Riverside Red Wave (Padres organization) has a lot of fun photos and interesting poses.

 Andy Skeels was born in New Zealand.

Unlike Stephen Sharts, Mark Beavers's name was funny even during his playing career.

 Not a very glamorous location for your baseball card shot, Mr. Pitcher-Holding-a-Bat. I wonder if that is the duguout or bullpen. Either way, that little metal bench shows that these players are a long way from the big leagues.

 

 Even worse, pitcher Brian Harrison had his photo taken right outside the bathroom!

2-time World Series Champion manager Bruce Bochy in his first year as a coach.

1989 Reading Phillies (Best)

Another 1989 Best set, with a more diverse selection of photos then most.

One of the most enjoyable aspects about collecting minor league cards is of seeing the long-time baseball veterans who bounced between the majors and minors, often in uniforms you're not used to seeing them in.

It appears Steve Scarsone's card was taken in the locker room.

 Until the 2004 movie Along Came Polly, this guy had a nice, normal, if unusual, name.

 Somehow on the checklist they managed to misspell both coaches, whose names should be Aviles and Hart.

1989 Eugene Emeralds (Best)

Every card in this set pretty much looks like Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long here. Simple, waist-up head shot in front of the scoreboard. Still, for any fans of the Royals, Eugene, Oregon or just minor league baseball cards, I do have an extra set to trade.

 Here is what the front of a checklist card looks like in 1989 Best.

 And here is the back. For some reason the person who put together the checklist had a lot of trouble with Kerwin Moore.

1989 Cedar Rapids Reds (Best)

Here is the 1989 Cedar Rapids Reds set from Best. This is the set where I got the Quinn Marsh card from. There is a bit more variety to the poses, and the pictures are at least taken on the field.

Best cards are often quite formal, using the player's full first name instead of a nickname.

 So this set has a guy with the first name Jeffery, and the last name Jeffery. (Neither is spelled the more common way - Jeffrey).

 This Michael Myers is not the Mike Myers who spent 13 years in the major leagues. This guy (who also usually went by Mike Myers) never pitched above A ball.

 Here's a guy with a great name. He was just profiled on the blog The Greatest 21 Days, which like this blog is also delving into minor league team sets.

 Some sets include coaches. Here is current Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild!

Occasionally a minor league set will include some key off-field personnel as well as the manager, coaches and trainer.

 Rarely, however, do you get a clubhouse attendant card.

 

Tony Vasquez is described as a "local Cedar Rapids boy".

The boy is now a man. He became the manager of a sports bar in Cedar Rapids that was destroyed by that region's massive flooding in 2008 (as a Long Islander I can relate, though thankfully not from personal experience). See this article for pictures, including the baseball memorabilia that was destroyed in the flood. He has since rebuilt the bar.

1989 Canton-Akron Indians (Best)

The 1989 Best set has a pretty bare-bones layout. Incidentally, they used almost the same design in 1990. Almost every picture in the Canton-Akron set is taken in front of the same gray wall.

Dan Boever is now a professional golf entertainer, specializing in long drives and trick shots.
 
A striking feature of the Canton-Akron set is the dirt all over the pictures. For example, look at all of the green smudges on trainer Dan Remond's photo.

They use the same pictures on the back, and you can see the same smudges.  Also, they say he got a degree in "Sorts Medicine".

Jeff Shaw's card has a word written in reverse. Holding the card up to a mirror it looks something like Caab. This isn't just writing on my card - you can see another card at this link.

Shaw is shown as a pitcher posing with a bat. This set may have set a record for that pose.