Old Eagle Eye missed some details

Last time I said there was a new MiLB commemorative gamer available from the Richmond Flying Squirrels, and even posted bits from their X announcement. I saw what I thought was the same ball on eBay, but I didn’t look closely enough: turns out there are TWO new gamers!

Thanks to a tip from Friend of The Museum (FoTM) Tyler, we are now aware of a second commemorative gamer from the Squirrels! The one we posted last time has “Inaugural Season” on it. The second ball is for the Inaugural Game, complete with the date of April 7, 2026 in the design.

Currently the team is sold out of the Inaugural Game balls, but even so, they didn’t sell them online nor by phone, only at the stadium. The Game ball was used on April 7 (confirmed by someone who attended the game and picked up a foul ball) and the Season ball was used for the rest of their first homestand. AFAIK the Inaugural Season balls are still available for sale by phone, so call the team store and get yours quickly before those are gone too!

What’s funny is that not long ago I picked up a 2015 Atlantic League All-Star Game ball because I noticed a small detail (the Atl Lg logo on the south panel was surrounded by text, “Cushioned Cork Center”, that I’d not seen since they began stamping the league logo on the balls). But now I missed a rather obvious detail for the Squirrels balls. Needless to say, I’ll be double- and triple-checking everything from now on!

I would also like to publicly thank Tyler for keeping his eyes and ears open and for alerting me to my oversight. It warms my heart when we collectors look out for each other. Thank you, Tyler!

Look for both of these balls to be added to the Museum within the next couple of weeks.

-Tony Baseballs

Breaking news! The Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Double-A Eastern League announced this week the first commemorative game ball since those planned for the ill-fated 2020 season.

The team opens the 2026 season in a new ballpark, Carmax Park, with their First Flight campaign, a week-long celebration of their new home and redesigned logo. They’ve commissioned a special gamer to be used in all games on the first homestand. See the team’s Instagram announcement here.

From the announcement: “You could be lucky enough to snag one for yourself from game action or grab one in the Squirrels Nest Team Store starting tomorrow, April 7 as an in-stadium exclusive.” We have confirmed that the team store will ship them, so order yours now!

The ball looks great, featuring a minimal logo design and the lighter blue ink adopted with the redesigned MiLB logo from last year. This one snuck up on us here at the museum, we were unaware of any new MiLB commemoratives for 2026 and we couldn’t be more excited!

Let’s hope this heralds a return to the use of MiLB commemorative gamers. Keep your eyes open!

-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

Welcome to the strangest MLB Opening Day ever! Not only is it the earliest in history, but it features only one game; it’s an interleague game, Yankees versus the Giants; and it’s only available to watch on Netflix. I’m old enough to remember when the Cincinnati Reds always hosted the first game on Opening Day, a nod to its being the very first professional baseball team. So much for tradition.

I’ll leave out the commentary on all of that and instead focus on what this site is intended for: the minor leagues. Here are the dates to watch for:

Triple-A: March 27th
Double-A: April 2nd
High-A: April 2nd
Single-A: April 2nd
Complex Rookie Leagues: May 2nd

As quoted above, this is the day we’ve all been waiting for all Winter. Whatever the weather at your nearest ballpark, it always feels like Spring on Opening Day! Get out there and enjoy the greatest game ever invented.

-Tony Baseballs

Everywhere I look around

It may not feel like Spring yet in most of the country, but pitchers and catchers are reporting to Arizona and Florida this week for Spring Training, so nevermind that groundhog! Baseball season is imminent! There will be new minor league All-Star baseballs this season (for one league, anyway)! The best sport in the world will soon be in full bloom across the contintent!

I love baseball!

-Tony Baseballs

It’s that time of year again, to take stock of the year just passed and look forward with hope to the new one just approaching. As I do every year at this time, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visits these pages and gets some value from viewing 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!

Before we look back I want to look forward: 2026 will mark the 10th year of the online museum. Back in September of 2016 I decided I needed a handy reference to my collection so I could stop inadvertently buying duplicates of balls I already had. Since then it’s grown well beyond that singular intent into a reference used by other collectors as well as a national autograph authentication company, and it inspired my book, The Collector’s Guide to Minor League Baseballs, still available here. Thank you one and all for your attention and interest!

2025 Year In Review

While we added “only” 55 balls this year, as compared to 73 in 2024, three of those date to the 1930s, among the oldest pieces in the collection.

1934 Southern Association

---

1934 Pacific Coast League. Yes I need better pics!

---

1938 Eastern League

---

The 1940s were represented by seven acquisitions, listed below:

• Early 1940s Southern Association
• 1940s Tobacco State League
• 1940 American Association
• 1947 American Association
• 1948 American Association
• 1949 American Association
• 1949 Western Association

---

On the independent front, we had a slew of interesting baseballs, and the only new balls across all of the minor leagues.

• The Atlantic League unveiled new regular-season gamers with QR codes linking to local sponsors or ballpark promotions. Returning to an Atlantic League tradition not seen since 2018, each team used a unique ball for home games.
• The Pecos League, which has featured two All-Star Games for the past few years, one for each division, commissioned game balls for the first time for each game.

---

• Finally, we added a ball from the Big South League, an independent circuit from the 1990s indy boom that only lasted two seasons. It’s one of the few pro balls made by Worth.

1996-1997 Big South League

---

All told it was another great year at the Museum! I will close with another thank you to those of you who visit the site and get some enjoyment and information from it. I love hearing from you all so don’t be shy. May you have a shiny, prosperous 2026!

-Tony Baseballs

Double the fun!

July used to be All-Star season throughout pro baseball, as we hit the symbolic-if-not-technical midway point of the season. Prior to 2020, this was a busy season here at the Museum when we would diligently reach out to all host teams across the minor leagues to acquire official ASG balls.

Since 2020 this time of year has been rather melancholic around here, as there haven’t been any All-Star Games in the affiliated leagues, let alone commemorative gamers. Likewise the independents; no ASG for the Atlantic League since 2019, for instance. When you headed to the All-Star Games and Special Events page here at the Museum you would have noticed that 2020 was the last season listed there. Until now!

In 2025 here comes Andrew Dunn and his Pecos League to give us collectors something to chase once again! The league has held an ASG every season since 2011 (excepting 2020), but since 2017 has done something unprecedented: it plays two ASGs, one for each division. This season, for the first time, official game balls were produced!

Both of these games have been played at the time of this writing as we didn’t learn there were commemorative gamers until after the fact. These are not (yet) being offered for sale on the league website, possibly due to the fact that they sold out, but keep checking back. It might also help to contact the host teams directly (Garden City Wind in the Mountain Division, San Rafael Pacifics in the Pacific Division) as they might have some lying around (unlikely but you never know); and some should appear soon on the secondary markets.

Both designs look great! The Pecos League has long been an innovator when it comes to official gamers; since its inception it has employed a unique game ball for each team. It’s nice to see that after 15 seasons of play the league is still finding ways to stand out and to keep the collector community in mind. If you see Andrew Dunn shake his hand for us!

-Tony Baseballs

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