The photograph on a baseball card can be a make-or-break element for many collectors.
For some cards, however, weird or funny images are the reason they have remained popular decades after release.
From giant snakes and pet parrots to cow-milking contests and oversized gloves, here are 10 iconic baseball cards with stunningly strange images.
1989 ProCards Keith Comstock
A minor-league journeyman for most of his career, Comstock pitched in just 144 total games across six MLB seasons. While Comstock’s playing career wasn’t very notable, he’s the subject of one of the best baseball cards to ever exist.
According to Comstock, he was simply tired of appearing on minor-league cards and wanted to shake things up. When the photographer refused to take funny photographs for many of the team’s players, Comstock convinced his teammates to revolt.
“I told him that I had a clubhouse full of players who weren’t going to sign their card contracts unless I got a ball in the nuts,” Comstock told ESPN in 2019.
With a ball glued to his pants, Comstock got a single photograph taken, and it later appeared in the 1989 ProCards set.
Of the 827 cards from the set graded by PSA, 82 are of Comstock and his unforgettable photograph.
1984 Fleer Glenn Hubbard
Hubbard’s 1984 Fleer card featuring him holding a giant snake is one of the most famous photographs in sports card history, and he hated the card so much he spent years trying to get rid of it.
Hubbard grew up in an outdoorsy family, and when a snake handler was on the field as part of a celebration for the Phillie Phanatic’s birthday, Hubbard took the chance to pose with the snake around his neck. The veteran infielder had a photographer snap the picture and later received a copy for his own collection.
Unfortunately for Hubbard, that photographer was also a freelancer for Fleer.
"Heck, when I used to get them in the mail, I would take that card and send back another card," Hubbard told MLB.com in 2021. "I was trying to take it off the market. Thinking I could take it off the market is stupid thinking."
According to Card Ladder, the highest sale for the Hubbard card is the $316 paid for a PSA 9 example in 2021.
2019 Topps Allen & Ginter Egg
As many collectors know by now, Allen & Ginter products are a little bit of baseball and a little bit of nonsense — with cards featuring everything from food and dogs to world wonders and actual baseball players, no set is more of a wild card.
Few cards encapsulate that nonsense category more than 2019 Allen & Ginter’s Egg.
Yes, the card is simply the picture of an egg, and some collectors love it. According to GemRate, the Egg No. 213 is the seventh-most graded card from the set by PSA with more than 170 total examples.
The Egg has even sold for impressive prices on the secondary market, with an all-time high sale for a PSA 10 the $2,550 paid on eBay in 2021. More recent sales of PSA 10 examples have fetched closer to $50 in 2024.
2012 Topps Skip Schumaker
Topps is well-known for sneaking in funny image variations, and Schumaker’s from 2012 Topps is among the best.
The story of the oddball card goes back to the 2011 NLDS between the Cardinals and Phillies. With Schumaker at the plate in the fifth inning of Game 4, a squirrel ran across the batter’s box.
St. Louis would win Game 4 and Game 5 before eventually winning the World Series. The “Rally Squirrel” has made additional appearances at Cardinals games over the years, and it popped back up in May 2023 after a five-year hiatus.
With the squirrel playing such an important role in the team’s run to the World Series in 2011, Topps commemorated the moment by featuring it on the card with a small cameo from Schumaker’s leg.
1986 Fleer Mickey Hatcher
Weird and oversized equipment is far from uncommon, though Hatcher’s 1986 Fleer card featuring a massive glove on his left hand is likely the most famous.
Hatcher batted .280 with 38 home runs during his 12-year career, and his most iconic moment was captured on this card during a promotion from MIzuno.
“I picked it up, and the card guy just happened to shoot it when I was out there playing for fun,” Hatcher told ESPN. “I said, ‘Get a picture of me with this glove because I need all the help I can get.’”
According to Hatcher, the glove was also a way to take a jab at his own fielding ability.
“I couldn’t catch with the small glove; I had a better chance with the big one,” he told Sports Illustrated. “And I think everyone knew I was a little goofy. That card reflected me as a player well. ... I never kept the glove. If I had, I would have made a bed out of it for my newborn kid.”
The highest sale for Hatcher’s 1986 Fleer to date is the $850 paid for a PSA 10 example in 2021, according to Card Ladder.
2021 Topps Stadium Club Babe Ruth
Ruth carried a big bat — but not quite this big.
Topps again offers up a funny image from its iconic Stadium Club set, which is best known for its incredible photography, with this card from 2021.
Obviously not the bat pictured, a Ruth bat holds the record for the most expensive baseball bat sold after fetching $1.85 million in a private sale through Hunt Auctions in 2023. According to Hunt Auctions president Dave Hunt, the record-breaking bat was given to its original owner as a gift from his boss before later selling multiple times.
Considered one of baseball’s greatest players, Ruth finished his 22-year career with 714 home runs, 2,214 RBI and a lifetime .342 batting average.
1993 Upper Deck SP Brian Harper
Sometimes, you just have to take the call.
Harper played in 1,001 games over a 16-year MLB career and retired with 63 home runs, 428 RBI and a .295 career batting average.
Though Harper had a decent career on the field, his trading cards are mostly remembered for the moment he was captured pretending to talk on a hilariously large cell phone — it was the early 1990s, after all.
Despite being a funny photograph, Harper’s card isn’t as popular as you might expect, with PSA grading only five total copies. Collectors wanting to add it to their collection can snag one for just a few bucks.
1991 Leaf Studio Steve Lake
Lake pitched for three teams over an 11-year career and otherwise lived a simple life. According to the back of this card, Lake enjoys restoring old cars, watching ESPN, and Ruffles.
No, not the chips.
Ruffles is Lake’s pet parrot, and he’s pictured on the front. While Hubbard and the snake cameo are a little more jarring, Ruffles sits atop Lake’s shoulder in a more majestic manner, and collectors love it.
Even with a popular photograph, collectors can pick this card up for just a few bucks on the secondary market.
1996 Upper Deck Collectors Choice Rex Hudler
The front of Rex Hudler’s 1996 Upper Deck is pretty normal. The back gets weird.
According to MLB.com, the Angels host a yearly Dairy Night, with an Angels player taking on an opposing player in a cow-milking contest. Hudler was reportedly the team’s “designated milker” for the event for all three years he played for the Angels, and one photograph from the contest made it to the back of this card.
"My great grandaddy, when I was 9 or 10 years old out on a farm in East Texas, showed me and taught me how to milk a cow," Hudler told MLB.com in 2021. "I'm so thankful for a lot of things in my life, but especially having a relationship with my great grandma and grandpa and my grandparents."
Along with this card, which can be bought for $5 or less, Hudler appears on another card where he’s captured hugging the dugout pole.
1976 Topps Kurt Bevacqua
Few things go together better than baseball and bubble gum, and this Bevacqua card from 1976 Topps beautifully illustrates the wonderful pairing.
Bevacqua played for six teams in a 15-year career, but his time with the Milwaukee Brewers means the most to many collectors.
In this card, the former infielder is celebrated as the 1975 Joe Garagiola/Bazooka Bubble Gum Blowing Champ. The reverse of the card shows a bracket of players from 22 teams facing off — Bevacqua beat players such as Cleveland’s Eric Raich and Philadelphia’s Johnny Dates en route to the title.
According to Card Ladder, the highest public sale for this card is the $904 paid for a PSA 10 example in 2023.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.