For the Dogs

To try and distract myself from the Cardinals late-season fade, I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite aspects of baseball card collecting: the oddballs. This particular 2-pack of Cards was sent to me in a trade with Ben Henry of The Baseball Card Blog awhile back and I've been staring at it ever since. I finally decided to open the pack because I wanted to see what the front of Craig Biggio's card looked like, and also because I didn't think it would store very well in my Cardinals binders while still sealed.


The cards themselves are pretty hilarious. Beckett tells me that the 1993 Milk Bone Super Stars (stars that are super, not to be confused with superstars) set "was featured in specially marked packages of Milk Bone Flavor Snacks and Dog Treats. Two cards were inserted in each package. Also the complete set could be obtained by sending in a mail-in form along with three Super Star Seals plus 2.50." I'm not entirely sure what a Super Star Seal would be, but I'm guessing it was some kind of seal of purchase UPC code type of deal. Each player is pictured in casual wear with a generic MLBPA baseball hat and holding their dog. I'm not sure if the photos were taken in the player's home or some pseudo-home/photography studio set up by the Milk Bone people. There is also an inset photo of the players in action, which are small enough that their teams logos are not easily identified, which makes me think that this set wasn't licensed by MLB (but obviously was by the Player's Association.)

Todd Zeile never really lived up to the incredible hype he came into the league with after he started his career slowly from the plate and eventually converted to 3B where his numbers seemed even softer. He ended up having a very productive career when it was all said and done, but he never became the force for the Cardinals that many thought he would be. Still, his 15 HRs in his first full season practically made him Hank Aaron compared to the rest of the 1990 team. Check out the facts on his chihuahua, Tiffany!

Biggio's card is even cheesier than Todd's. If anyone out there is interested in his card, just let me know. It's definitely not in pristine mint condition or anything, but how could you miss a Shelbee card? I have more plans on the way to talk about oddballs, just to warn you all.