Baseball cards are usually about stats, game faces, and epic poses — but every now and then, something truly strange sneaks into a set.
Whether it’s a costume, an awkward moment, or a straight-up prank, these cards have become cult favorites not necessarily for the player that’s featured, but for how weirdly unforgettable or funny the images are.
Here are 10 of the funniest and weirdest baseball cards ever printed, listed in order of when they were released.
If you collect for the laughs as much as the legacy, you’ll want these in your oddball binder.
10 Funny/Weird Baseball Cards
1984 Fleer Glenn Hubbard #182
This 1984 Fleer card is unforgettable: Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard casually smiling with a giant snake wrapped around his shoulders.
It’s become a famous image in the baseball card world but, ironically, Hubbard hates it, and spent a while trying to take it off the market. He was unaware that the photographer who snapped the image was a freelancer for Fleer, having asked for the image to be taken.
“Heck, when I used to get them in the mail, I would take that card and send back another card,” Glenn Hubbard previously admitted. “I was trying to take it off the market. Thinking I could take it off the market is stupid thinking.”
1986 Fleer Mickey Hatcher #396
This card features Mickey Hatcher rocking an oversized novelty glove that looks like it came from a circus. It’s not photoshopped — that’s a real prop, and Hatcher’s cheesy grin makes the moment even better.
Hatcher himself previously told ESPN “I picked it up, and the card guy just happened to shoot it when I was out there playing for fun.”
Of all the light-hearted, fun cards that are out there, this is one of the most well-known.
1987 Classic Travel Wade Boggs #105
A bat over one shoulder – fine. A rubber chicken over the other shoulder – unusual… but it makes an interesting and memorable baseball card.
The presence of the rubber chicken is possibly confusing to many, but it’s on-brand for Wade Boggs (or ‘Chicken Man’ as he was nicknamed), who ate chicken before every game as a superstition.
1989 Fleer Bill Ripken #616
The infamous “F*** Face” bat knob card is without doubt one of the most notorious ‘error’ baseball cards ever.
Somehow, a photo of Bill Ripken holding a bat with an obscenity written on the knob made it into Fleer’s main print run.
It caused a bit of a stir, and multiple “censored” variations were later released, but the original remains, and will forever be one of the funniest baseball cards.
1989 ProCards Keith Comstock #14
Keith Comstock’s MLB career didn’t set the world alight, but he’s forever etched in baseball card lore with this amazing card.
The image appears to be very unfortunate for Comstock, but it’s staged, and he instigated it himself; He convinced the photographer to snap the funny image.
“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,” he previously told ESPN.
The ball was glued to his pants, it only needed his fake pained expression to make it seem real.
1991 Pacific Texas Express Nolan Ryan #81
This card is from Pacific’s tribute set to Nolan Ryan, highlighting his legendary career – but this particular image is just… bizarre.
Ryan is shown at a strange angle, out of focus, and mid-stretch, not looking especially heroic. It stands out for all the wrong reasons – but that’s what makes it a fan favorite.
1991 Leaf Studio Steve Lake #216
You don’t see many major release baseball cards that feature a parrot. Steve Lake, backup catcher for the Phillies, is pictured calmly posing with his pet bird on his shoulder.
Studio cards were supposed to offer a “behind-the-scenes” look at players’ personalities – and apparently, Lake’s included being a pirate in his spare time.
1993 Donruss Joe Oliver #586
This one’s less about props and more about an unfortunate freeze frame. Joe Oliver, Reds catcher, is caught falling over, and it’s anybody’s guess as to why Donruss chose to use the image.
The result is a unique card where he looks like he’s panicking, and it’s just hilariously awkward.
1996 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Rex Hudler #484
If you glanced at the front of this Rex Hundler’s ‘96 Upper Deck card, you probably wouldn’t look twice, but you would if you turned it over and looked at the back… because there’s a picture of him milking a cow.
You’re probably wondering how that image ended up on a baseball card – apparently the Angels host a yearly Dairy Night, which includes a cow-milking contest. Hudler was snapped mid-milking, and somehow it made it on Upper Deck’s card.
A bit of a strange one, but very memorable.
2021 Topps Stadium Club Babe Ruth #32
Another comically oversized piece of equipment for this one – It’s not unusual to see a picture of the legendary Babe Ruth holding a bat, but not one this big.
Topps’ Stadium Club brand is known for great photography, and this image of ‘The Sultan of Swat’ is even more memorable for its funny twist.
What’s the weirdest baseball card in your collection? Got something even more ridiculous than these? Drop a comment below – the weirder, the better.
Baseball’s full of odd moments, and sometimes, the cardboard captures it all perfectly.
