The indy league leads again with gamer innovation

As mentioned on these pages more than once since 2021 and the death of MiLB commemoratives, we collectors are looking to the independent leagues for new goodies and they are not disappointing!

The independent, MLB Partner Atlantic League has taken commemorative, unique game baseballs to a whole new level in 2025. Harkening back to 2015-2018 when each team used a unique ball, these will now also feature customizable QR codes.

From the league’s recent press release:

“The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) has become the first league to place a QR code on its official equipment, namely Drake Official Baseballs.

“In addition to the QR code, the Atlantic League baseball also features two signatures on its signature panel. The signature of each team’s Director joins ALPB President Rick White on the signature panel on that team’s official Drake baseballs. The QR code will reside in between the two signatures and just above the “Official Atlantic League” mark.”

We have photos and more details courtesy of Steve Shutt, Atlantic League Director of Communications:

Initially the codes will link to the team’s website but each team can also sell sponsorship opportunities or use the code for game-day promotions.

Mr. Shutt was also kind enough to provide more details on this feature.

TB: Are these sponsorships on a league-wide level or will each team have unique sponsorships?

SS: The sponsorships are all at the club’s availability to sell them. Each club received their allotment of balls with their specific QR code and their principal’s signature. So the Staten Island QR code is different than the High Point code.

Southern Maryland, I understand, has sold their QR code to a local law firm. Other clubs are pitching the idea to potential sponsors. In the meantime, clubs are able to direct their QR code to in-park promotions. High Point is offering a free soft drink for scanning the code and receiving a voucher. The default setting was each club’s website.

So, Maryland’s sponsorship links to the law firm. Lexington’s QR code links to the Lexington Clinic. York’s leads to membership in their Kids Club. High Point’s leads to the free soft drink offer. I do not know the specifics of any of our clubs’ sponsorship agreements.

Sponsorship would be solely up to the clubs. Each club has the ability to manage the QR landing page on their own. Theoretically, a club could link to a free soft drink today, a discount coupon for merchandise tomorrow and a buy one, get one free ticket offer the following day. It’s in the hands of each club. If they want to sell to a sponsor on a monthly, in-season, or annual basis, that would be up to the clubs.

TB: Will the new baseballs be available for retail sale to the public?

SS: Each club has the ability to sell the balls in their merchandise shop or online, that would be their prerogative. The league at this time is not planning to market them commercially.

Many, many thanks to Mr. Shutt for his time!

FotM (Friend of the Museum) Tyler Carrier snagged one in the wild from the brand-new Gastonia Ghost Peppers featuring CEO Andy Kaufmann’s stamp and President Rick White’s stamp bookending the QR code. This one takes you to the team website.

Word is that the teams will start using these after exhausting their supplies of last season’s balls. We’re getting reports that some teams are using them already, and that the QR codes are getting scuffed during game play, but we’ve been assured that the code will still work if even less than 25% of it is undamaged.

Kudos to the Atlantic League staff for yet another gamer innovation. Collect ’em all!

-Tony Baseballs

Spring Training is in full tilt as I write this and the 2025 season is just around the corner. It’s the best time of year for baseball fans, full of nothing but possibility. Others have waxed far more eloquently about this time of year than I ever could, so I’ll just say I’m looking forward to a new baseball season and I know you are too.

Speaking of new, I reported last year in this space that MiLB would be trotting out a new baseball, featuring a slightly lighter ink and the updated MiLB logo. I had anticipated that these would make their way into games last season, as teams used up their stock from 2023. But 2024 came and went and there were no reports of these seeing game use.

Well, here’s the “new” that was promised: we’ve now confirmed that these are being used in minor league Spring Training games, so you can expect to see them at your local MiLB ballpark this season. I have updated the MiLB page of the Museum to reflect this.

And speaking of updates, this ball is also featured in The Collector’s Guide to Minor League Baseballs, 2nd Edition Revised! Click that link to find out how you can get a PDF copy.

I hope to see you at a minor league game in 2025! Happy collecting.

-Tony Baseballs

As promised, the newly-revised 2nd Edition of the Collector’s Guide is now available, just in time for 2025!

You can take a look at more details here. Shoot me an email at tsattert@outlook.com and I’ll let you know how to get one. If you can’t wait for all those electrons to make their way to me and then back to you, you can also find it on Etsy.

Enjoy!

-Tony Baseballs

We all take stock of the outgoing year, and it was a banner one here at the Museum! I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who frequents these pages and who gets some value from seeing my collection. I hear from a few of you occasionally and it’s always appreciated. I hope all of my fellow collectors have a safe holiday season full of love and good cheer!

2024 In Review

When gathering info for this post I was truly amazed at how much the Museum has grown over the past 12 months.

A whopping 73 balls were added, a total that really surprised me (and please, don’t tell Mrs. Baseballs, it would surprise her even more but I don’t think she’d want to celebrate). Mind, that’s not 73 new balls; most were upgrades in condition of balls I already had. But a few notable additions deserve mention.

Six balls from the first half of the 20th Century were added:

• 1938 Pacific Coast League – The oldest PCL ball in the Museum
• 1939 Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League – The oldest PONY ball in the Museum
• 1940 Appalachian League – The oldest Appy League ball in the Museum
• 1948 Piedmont League – The oldest Piedmont League ball in the Museum
• 1949 Three-I League – The oldest Three-I League ball in the Museum
• 1949-1950 Pacific Coast League

Seventeen balls dating to the latter half of the 20th Century (specifically between 1950 and 1980) were new to the Museum in 2024:

• 1951-1957 Florida State League
• 1952-1955 Sooner State League
• 1954 Texas League
• 1955 Texas League
• Late 1950s Pioneer League
• 1956-1958 Western League – The first Western League ball in the Museum
• 1958 South Atlantic League – The first ball from the historical, defunct SAL in the Museum
• 1960s Gulf Coast League
• 1964-1965 Texas League
• Late 1960s International League
• 1969-1970 American Association
• 1970 Appalachian League
• 1970 New York-Penn League
• 1972 Texas League
• 1973 Eastern League
• 1973 Pacific Coast League
• 1977 International League

Finally, three All-Star Game balls found their way here, which is always a reason to celebrate, since “MiLB” isn’t making any new ones (you didn’t think you could get through a post here without a disparaging remark about Rob Manfred, did you?).

• 1998 Triple-A All-Star Game, Norfolk Tides
• 1999 Double-A All-Star Game, Mobile BayBears – the first Special Event baseball from 1999 in the Museum and previously featured in my last post.
• 2014 Texas League All-Star Game Home Run Derby, Arkansas Travelers

Also, a reminder that The Collector’s Guide is available at the link or from my main menu, and on Etsy. The Revised 2nd Edition will be available very soon so keep an eye out for it, I’ll announce it here.

Once again, thank you all for your patronage. This site is a passion project and I’m truly humbled that authenticators and fellow collectors look to it as a resource and reference. May your collection continue to grow as well, and may we all have an even greater 2025!

– Tony Baseballs

A celebration and a lament

I hope everyone is enjoying what’s left of the 2024 baseball season! The minor league seasons are in the books (unless you count the Arizona Fall League). The MLB post-season is underway and has already provided some great moments and some heartbreaking ones, with more of each to come. Baseball is a beautiful game.

Many poignant and poetic things have been written about this wonderful game, and they’re all true. One of my favorite quotes about the game is one I can’t remember in its entirety, nor who said it, so I have to paraphrase: Baseball is greater than the idiots who run it. If I recall, this was said during one of the game’s labor disputes and the speaker was referring to both the owners and the players. It’s still true and it always will be.

Regular visitors to this site are well aware of my opinion of the current Commissioner and what has been done to MiLB, so I won’t rehash any diatribes here. I mention this only because I just added a great piece to the Museum and it reminded me of what used to be.

Today I picked up a 1999 Double-A All-Star Game ball in mint condition.

As I was posting it to the Museum I was struck again by the loss of minor league commemorative gamers. Starting in 1983 and running through the 2020 cancelled season, MiLB leagues and teams commissioned some beautiful designs for All-Star Games, post-season games, team anniversaries and inaugural games, even some devoted to stadiums opening or closing. During the 1990s many featured multi-colored ink and stitches. It was a boom era for collectors.

I fondly recall putting together a list every year of which teams were hosting their league’s events and contacting them early to make sure I snagged a ball. While there were some that were reserved for attendees of the game, most teams were happy to sell them to the public. It was a busy time and a ritual I looked forward to every season.

As of 2021 MiLB ceased commissioning commemorative game balls, thanks mostly to the fact that a certain MLB Commissioner effectively demolished and rebuilt the MiLB organization as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Again, I’m not gonna get myself started on that (it’s not like I’ve avoided taking a couple of shots already), I just wanted to remind my fellow collectors that if you haven’t stopped by the All-Star Games and Special Events section of the Museum in a while, you should revisit it. Quite a few new pieces have been added this year, and all of the older pics have been updated over the past few months. It’s a great reminder of a glorious era of minor league collecting that we may never see again.

Please enjoy the rest of the 2024 MLB season, and please remain a fan of minor league ball. Keep checking back here for updates, new stuff is added frequently. And please join me in continuing to thank our lucky stars that no matter the level of play, baseball is greater than the idiots who run it.

-Tony Baseballs

EDIT: Not long after posting this I found the exact quote and it turns out I misremembered almost everything about it. It’s from HoFer Bill Terry and it wasn’t said during a labor dispute since he didn’t live long enough to see one. The actual quote is, “Baseball must be a great game to survive the fools who run it.” My paraphrase is pretty darned close.

It’s been a slow news year in terms of official minor league baseballs. As predicted, what news we do have comes from an indy league, or more accurately, one of the MLB Partner Leagues.

The Pioneer League moved away from Rawlings as its official supplier back in 2021; a strange move for an MLB Partner considering that MLB purchased Rawlings in 2018. You’ll recall that the Atlantic League, another Partner League, also uses OT Sports baseballs.

Now the league has gone back to Rawlings for its game balls, with a bit of a twist. While the OT Sports PBL ball was a great design, from the mixed fonts on the league stamp to the multi-colored laces, the new ball resembles an official MLB ball more than the generic MiLB baseballs in use by affiliated leagues since 2021, as the Pioneer League logo has been replaced on the south panel with the MLB logo. A game-used sample is below:

This prompts a couple of questions: Why the switch? Perhaps to save money; the PBL went with OT Sports due to the high cost of Rawlings baseballs but now that MLB is providing the balls, that cost would seem to be zero; and will MLB supply the other Partner Leagues as well? There is no indication yet that that’s the case but we’re keeping an eye out. Stay tuned!

-Tony Baseballs

Back in late September 2023, MiLB announced a new logo. You can read the press release here.

Unlike the tweak made to it when MLB first took over in 2021 (revisit my underwhelmed reaction here), the new logo features significant changes. Instead of red, white, and blue it’s now light blue, white, and blue; the familiar MiLB right-handed batter has been replaced by MLB’s switch-hitting silhouette; and all four stars have been lined up to the right of the bat.

Word is that once minor league teams use up their supplies of last year’s balls, they’ll start using this one. The Museum has managed to acquire one, and here it is:

Note that the ink is a slightly lighter blue than the Navy blue that Rawlings has used for the past 20-odd years.

So keep an eye out for these in the wild this season. Spring Training is right around the corner, and hopefully we’ll be seeing these balls in games before too long.

A reminder that the 2nd Edition of the Collector’s Guide is now available! It has lots of updates, including this new MiLB ball. Buy it on Etsy, or drop me a message or email and I’ll let you know how to get it directly from me.

-Tony Baseballs

Just a quick update to wish my fellow collectors a safe and happy New Year! May your 2024 be better than your 2023.

I also wanted to announce the publication of the updated Collector’s Guide to Minor League Baseballs! The PDF version of the 2nd Edition is available now, just click the link in this paragraph or on the top or side menu to find out how to get your copy from me. It’s also available on Etsy.

All the info you need to identify and enjoy your minor league baseball collection, updated for 2024 to include MLB’s takeover of the affiliated system and brand-new baseballs for some independent leagues! Get your copy today.

From everyone here at the museum to your household we wish you a propserous and fun New Year!

-Tony Baseballs

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” – Rogers Hornsby

Another season is in the books and here at the Museum we’re kindred spirits with the late Mr. Hornsby: just waiting for Spring. This isn’t football season nor basketball season, we consider this baseball’s off-season.

Even here in central Arizona where there’s no real winter to speak of, the days without a baseball game being played somewhere in the US still aren’t quite as bright as they are from March through November (don’t forget the Arizona Fall League!). So I thought I’d finally work on a new page that I’ve been thinking about for a while now.

Introducing Oddities, featuring a few one-of-a-kind balls that have a unique back story. These balls are reminders of the often ephemeral and volatile nature of minor league baseball, and I thought they were interesting enough to warrant their own page. It’s not complete yet, I’ll be adding a Rob Manfred Official Minor League ball with a reversed logo soon. Check out the new page if you get a chance, and if you know of other weird minor league balls drop me a line.

In the meantime, we’ll just keep an eye out for additions to the Museum and keep on countin’ down to Spring Training. Happy collecting!

-Tony Baseballs

But still no commemorative gamers

MLB has scrapped the Triple-A Championship Weekend that debuted last year and revamped the MiLB post-season landscape yet again.

TRIPLE-A
Instead of division winners meeting in a single playoff game, each league will name a first-half winner and a second-half winner. Those two teams will meet for a best-of-three series to be hosted by the first-half winner. The two victors will then meet for one Championship Game in Las Vegas.

DOUBLE-A, HIGH-A, SINGLE-A
The lower leagues will also divide their seasons into halves, with the two half winners meeting in a best-of-three Division Series, followed by a best-of-three Championship Series. The lone exception is the Northwest League which, consisting of only six teams, will play a single, best-of-five Championship Series between the two half-season winners.

It’s nice to see post-season series again rather than single-game eliminations; too bad the Triple-A Championship is still one game. That’s about the only nice thing I have to say about it. As has become a hallmark of the MLB hostile takeover, there will be no commemorative gamers produced for these series nor for the Triple-A Championship Game. Rob Manfred continues to pay minor attention to fans of the minor leagues.

-Tony Baseballs