TTM Success - Conner Capel

When I am able to get an old team set card signed TTM, that is always a good day.  I also got two other cards back signed with this TTM success from Conner Capel, so I definitely was excited.  The above 2018 Carolina League Top Prospects card turned out nicely, and has been liberated from my box.

He also signed my 2019 Topps Heritage Minors and 2019 Bowman, which both turned out great, as well.

Capel (b. 1997) was a 5th round pick by the Indians in the 2016 June Amateur Draft out of Seven Lakes High School in Texas.  He has played in the minors since 2016 for the Indians and Cardinals organizations, reaching AAA.  He has 475 hits, 58 home runs and a .250 batting average.

I mailed to Capel on April 29, 2020, and got the cards back on March 28, 2022, for a 698-day TAT.

TTM Success - Travis Buck

Apparently, this TTM success from Travis Buck was a bit of a surprise to some folks.  Regarded as a tough autograph, I was able to get my 2010 Topps signed.  It turned out nicely, and I am glad that I got the success.

Buck (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2007 to 2012 for the A's, Indians and Astros.  He had 197 hits, 20 home runs and a .243 batting average.

I mailed to Buck on January 18 and got the card back on March 26, for a 67-day TAT.  I had sent him 3 cards; he kept the other 2.

May 2022 Graphing of Woodpeckers at Wood Ducks

Another series is in the books, along with a bunch of signed cards.  The Wood Ducks won the series 5-1 and I finally got some 2022 Bowman in.

I hit up Sportlots for a few Dickie Joe Thon cards, and they all turned out great.  I got three different 2011 Bowman Platinum chrome parallels, and two 2011 Bowman Chromes.  I was really happy with how all of these turned out.

I thought I had some Thons somewhere, but I was never able to find them.  Sportlots made it easy, and now these cards are put away in the album.

I was really happy to see Vincent Blue on the coaching staff, as I had his 2007 Bowman ever since that set came out.  I also had these Jayson Schroeders in my boxes for quite a while.

I didn't have any Logan Cernys until late in the week, but did end up finishing everything I had gotten in by Sunday.  Alex Santos was really tough, but we did have a nice conversation on Sunday to make up for him bypassing Chris the other day, insisting he had signed for Chris the day before, even thought Chris missed that game due to work.

My Steve Mintz Auckland Tuatara card finally came in, and I promptly got it signed.  This is from when he managed in New Zealand a few years ago.

The 2022 Bowmans came rolling in, as well, and I got a 2022 Bowman Chrome blue ray wave refractor and a purple paper parallel of Jose Rodriguez signed, along with my 2022 Bowman Chrome and a Bowman paper.

I also was able to add a Maximo Acosta 2022 Bowman and Bowman Chrome to the album.  The 2021 Panini Prizm blue parallel of Mitch Bratt came from Gerard.

I had misplaced this Cam Cauley Bowman paper from 2021 in my box, but found it before the series ended.  It got signed, and turned out nicely.  Gerard sent me these 2021 Prizms as part of a 50/50 and I was able to keep these of Cauley and Ian Moller.

In all, I got the following autos: Logan Cerny x 8, Jose Rodriguez x 15, Alex Santos x 5, Guilder Rodriguez x 2, Maximo Acosta x 7, Cam Cauley x 6, Ian Moller x 6, Steve Mintz x 2, Leury Tejada x 2, Jayson Schroeder x 13, Mitch Bratt x 3, Dylan MacLean x 1, Vincent Blue x 2 and Joe Thon x 5 (77 total autographs)

TTM Success - Matt McCann

Here is a 2018 Topps Pro Debut that I was able to get signed TTM by Matt McCann.  His signature it pretty nice, as opposed to some that I've seen of younger guys.

McCann (b. 1995) was a 25th round pick in the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.  He played in the Angels system in 2017, reaching high A ball.  He had 44 hits, 1 home run and a .246 batting average.

I mailed to McCann on March 8 and got the card back on March 25 for a 17-day TAT.

1987 Set Need From Gerard - Rob Wilfong

My goof friend, Gerard, along with his brother, arranged a signing recently with Rob Wilfong.  Knowing I needed him for my 87 set, Gerard took one of my cards and got it signed for me.  The card turned out nicely, and puts me at 725/792 for my set.  Things are slowing down for the set, but I am still plugging away, and also hoping some of the tougher names fall off the list, somehow.

Wilfong (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1977 to 1987 for the Twins, Angels and Giants.  He had 668 hits, 39 home runs and a .248 batting average.

Thanks for helping me knock this card off of the list, Gerard!

Another TTM Success FromChase Anderson

Another TTM success came in from Spring Training; this time from pitcher, Chase Anderson.  I had gotten him in the past, but had a few more cards I wanted to put into my album, so I sent to him when I had heard that Spring Training was a go this season.  The above purple parallel from 2014 Bowman is the card that I really wanted to get back.  It turned out nicely.

I also had Anderson sign a 2017 Topps, 2019 Topps, 2021 Topps Update and a 2020 Topps Heritage.

I mailed to Anderson via Tigers camp on March 15 and got the cards back on March 24, for a 9-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Matt Williams

Another TTM success came back from Matt Williams after I waited a long time for him to get on with another team here stateside.  I had this 1995 Leaf Slideshow insert that I really wanted to get signed, and my patience paid off.  The card looks really cool, and has a nice place in my album.

I still have very few 1994 Topps in the album, so I kept this one with the Slideshow card so I could send it along.  It turned out great, as well.

Finally, here ae two other nice cards that I sent along.  A 1991 Upper Deck checklist and a 1997 Upper Deck SP.

I mailed to Williams on March 11, via Padres camp and got the cards back on March 24, for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tony Kemp

Here are some recent cards that I was able to get signed from SPring Training last season.  Th wait was worth it, because these two Tony Kemp cards turned out nicely.  I got his 2021 Topps and a 2019 Topps signed.

Kemp (b. 1991) has played in the majors since 2016 for the Astros, Cubs and A's.  He currently has 302 hits, 24 home runs and a .246 batting average.

I mailed to Kemp on February 22, 2021, and got the cards back on March 23, 2022, for a 394-day TAT.  I had also sent to him this season (before these came back), so hopefully, I get a second return.

TTM Success - Tim Lollar

They've been slowing down a bit, but I still have been adding to my signed 1987 Topps set.  This one was from a private signing with Tim Lollar.

Lollar (b. 1956) played in the majors from 1980 to 1986 for the Yankees, Padres, White Sox and Red Sox.  He had a record of 47-52 with 600 strike outs and a 4.27 ERA.

I mailed to the signing on February 1 and got the card back on March 23, for a 50-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $15.00.

TTM Success - Ryley Widell

When I can pull a 2017 Bowman Draft out of my boxes, it is always a good thing.  I thought I was winding down on my stack of 17 Draft, but one of the boxes I got recently when the shop closed was full of them, so I now have a whole lot more.  I finally organized them, and pulled a bunch out for graphing, so that helps.  I sent off this 2017 Draft Ryley Widell a while back, and got it back signed.  It turned out nicely.

Widell (b. 1997) was a 7th round pick by the Twins in the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of Central Arizona College.  He played in the minors (reaching High A) in the Twins and Dodgers organizations in 2017, 2019 and 2021.  He had a record of 2-9 with 111 strike outs and a 5.46 ERA in three minor league seasons.

I mailed to Widell on January 12 and got the card back on March 21, for a 68-day TAT.

May 2022 Graphing of Yard Goats at Baysox

With the Wood Ducks out of town this weekend, I decided to head to Bowie and catch a few Orioles prospects that I had missed in the past.  I had the above 2021 Bowman Chrome aqua shimmer refractor of Jordan Westburg that I absolutely wanted to get signed.  He signed it, even though it is personalized.  That doesn't really matter to me, except for one of the guys I was with took one of my Gunnar Henderson cards and said "I'll get him to sign it for you."  I told him that Gunnar would ask his name an personalize the card and the guy said "That's ok, I'll tell him my name is William, too..."

So, I let him take my 2020 Topps Heritage Minors Gunnar Henderson, and he proceeded to tell him "Oh, my name is Carl..."  Meaning, he personalized the card to Carl.  I told Carl, "Hey, it's no big deal, you can keep the card.  I have a few other of these, so I'll bring one next time."  Carl said, "Oh, no, I don't want it.  It's funnier if you have a card in your collection with someone else's name on it."  I would have much rather he kept the card, though.  To be fair, he's my friend's uncle, and he was fun to talk to about baseball during the game, and he did seemingly have a good time.  I just don't think he quite understood how I enjoy getting autographs and put a lot of time in preparing for trips like this.  To each their own, I suppose.

I finally was able to move several Adam Hall cards out of my box.  My Staedtler seems to be dying; the cards at the top were signed with the dying Staedtler and were in my friend, Alex's book.  The ones on the bottom were signed with a new type of marker that I found at Hobby Lobby.  The new marker seems to be doing really well and is substantially cheaper than a Staedtler.

I also was able to get a couple cards signed out of my 2019 Delmarva team set.  Dean Kremer was rehabbing with the Baysox, but he ignored us.  Hudson Haskin also ignored us pre and post-game.  We also were ignored by Zach Watson.

Speaking of Watson, I almost missed that he was on the roster.  While thrashing on Friday to find some of his cards, I found two Riley Pint cards that I had picked up from a dime box at last year's National.  I also had found the 2020 Heritage Minors Michael Toglia card while looking for some 50/50 stuff.  So, after the game, Alex and his aunt and uncle left; I stayed behind and was able to get the two Yard Goat guys I had cards of.  I got them outside, which was a lot easier than I remember from the last time I was in Bowie.

Personalizations aside, I had a great with with Alex and his family, and I would definitely go with them to another game.  Bowie is really easy to graph at, even if you have some guys ignoring you.

In all, I got Adam Hall x 6, Gunnar Henderson x 1 (I'm not counting Carl's card), Jordan Westburg x 1, Kyle Moore x 1, Drew Rom x 1, Joey Oriz x 1, Riley Pint x 2 and Michael Toglia x 1 (14 total autographs). 

TTM Success - Bob Veale

Some nice vintage cards finally made their way out of my "to be TTMed" box and into my album with this TTM success from Bob Veale.  Veale's cards were some that sat in the box for a long time before I finally got around to sending off.  I'm glad I got them back, because they turned out really well.

Veale (b. 1935) played in the majors from 1962 to 1974 for the Pirates and Red Sox.  He had a record of 120-95 with 1,703 strike outs and a 3.07 ERA.  He was an All Star in 1965 and 1966.  He led the NL in strike outs in 1964, with 250.  He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1971.  He appeared on the 1980 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes.

I mailed to Veale on February 28 and got the cards back on March 21, for a 21-day TAT.  I paid Veale's fee of $5.00/card.

TTM Success - Larry Milbourne

Several older cards were added to my autograph album with this TTM success from Larry Milbourne.  I had his cards in my box for a long time and finally got around to sending to him TTM.  The above 1975 Topps was the main card I wanted to send along,.  I'd say it turned out well like I normally do, but really, his signature is kind of nondescript.  Still, the card is finally signed and has taken a place in the album.

I also sent off a 1980 Topps, 1981 Topps and 1981 Topps Traded.  The cards look cool, and I am glad to finally have them moved out of my box.

Milbourne (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1974 to 1984 for the Astros, Mariners, Yankees, Twins, Indians and Phillies.  He had 623 hits, 11 home runs and a .254 batting average.

I mailed to Milbourne on February 28 and got the cards back on March 21, for a 21-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $5.00/card.

May 2022 Graphing Recap of Hillcats at Wood Ducks

This past series of the Hillcats at the Wood Ducks may be my most successful series graphing in a long time.  I was able to knock out a ton of cards, and helps several folks with 50/50s.  I took a few team bags of Carolina League coaches from my awesome friend, Max, and started him off right with a bunch of signed Omir Santos cards.  I really loved this 2006 Bowman Sterling that Max provided.

I had also ordered a few Santos cards off of Sportlots, and they came in just in time.  The 2006 Bowman Heritage that Max sent turned out great, along with the other cards I got signed (a 2006 Bowman, 2006 Bowman blue parallel, 2009 Topps Update Gold, 2010 Topps gold and a 2009 Bowman).

There were a few Hillcats players with cards, and fout of them had 2021 Topps Heritage Minors cards.  I added these four of Milan Tolentino (Milan is pronounced like the city in Italy), Carson Tucker (brother of Cole Tucker), Isaiah Greene and Yordys Valdes.

Tolentino and Valdes had cards in 2021 Topps Pro Debut (base), and both were landscape oriented.  The cards were very similar and I had mixed them up on my pages at least once.  

I actually had pulled the blue parallel of Greene's Pro Debut insert out of my boxes last year, so it was nice to get it signed and not have to buy one.

Greene was also in 2020 Bowman Draft and 2021 Bowman.  He was really nice, but very quiet.  His signature isn't much, but the cards are signed.  I can't complain there.

Milan Tolentino was the toughest of all of the players, and after all was said and done on Sunday afternoon, I had only two cards left over, and they were Tolentino.  They went back to Gerard, so he could try again another time.  I also was able to get Jake Fox on two new cards for the album; this is a different Jake Fox than the former Oriole farmhand who lit up Spring Training a while back.

I added a few new Guilder Rodriguez cards to the album.  This is a 2015 Topps mini that Gerard sent along.

Sharnol Adriana was the rover this week, and I got him on two Hickory team set cards.  He was helping out with hitting instruction this past week.  I also added a Guilder Rodriguez chrome refractor and x fractor from 2015.

The Rangers finally moved Cam Cauley and Ian Moller to the Wood Ducks.  Both were drafted last summer, and I have been picking up some of their cards.  I got a ray wave parallel of each guy, along with their respective Perfect Game cards.

My friend, Jesse, gave me a Teodoro Ortega card from the Spokane team set, and Gerard gave me a few more parallels of Dylan MacLean.  I also added some Mitch Bratt parallels.  Jesse hooked me up with a Junior Paniagua Elite Extra Edition.

Finally, here is the die cut parallel of Dylan MacLean's Elite Extra Edition that Gerard sent along.  I had gotten one of these done for him already, so this was my end of the take.

In all, I got the following autographs: Today's graphing recap of Hillcats at Wood Ducks: Maximo Acosta x 6, Mitch Bratt x 9, Dylan MacLean x 15, Cam Cauley x 14, Yosy Galan x 4, Ian Moller x 15, Milan Tolentino x 26, Leury Tejada x 12, Guilder Rodriguez x 13, Carson Tucker x 34, Omir Santos x 16, Yordys Valdes x 17, Junior Paniagua x 3, Bradford Webb x 2, Tucker Mitchell x 2, Isaiah Greene x 25, Sharnol Adriana x 2, Teodoro Ortega x 1, Jose Rodriguez x 1 and Jake Fox x 12 (229 total signatures).

A highlight of the series was meeting some fellow graphers who had traveled from the NJ/Philly area, Brian and Joshua.  I have talked to both of them for years on Instagram, and Joshua has read my blog for even longer than that.  It was really nice putting some faces with the names, and helping the guys have a fun and positive experience graphing at my home stadium.

Some 50/50s Back From Gerard

My good friend, Gerard, went on a trip this past week to Asheville, and took a few 50/50s to help move some cards out of my boxes.  These were mostly guys that I missed who either didn't come through Fayetteville, or didn't have these cards when they did.  

The above 2020 Panini Prizm Zach Daniels turned out nicely.  I'm pretty sure he just didn't play in Fayetteville; I don't remember him there, at least.  I also don't remember how I got this card, but I like it and am glad it is being added to my album.

Gerard got me several Daniels cards signed, which was great.  I have added so many 2021 Topps Heritage Minors cards to the album recently.  It is a nice set, and the cards look great signed.

J. C. Correa didn't have cards when he came through Fayetteville, so it was nice to get a couple of his cards signed and into the album.

Jordan Brewer did come through, and I had gotten his 2020 Heritage Minors signed before.  I don't remember seeing Colin Barber, however.

Gerard also got a few cards signed by Greenville Drive's Matthew Lugo.  These cards turned out nicely, as well.

Thanks for taking the 50/50, Gerard.  I hope you had a great trip!

May 7, 2022, Graphing of Crawdads at Dash

Something about best laid plans...  I had the bright idea of treating my parents to an anniversary present of taking them to a Dash game last weekend.  I bought six tickets after the earth stopped spinning when my dad agreed to go to the game.  The weather was horrible leading up to Saturday, including a rainout on Friday, forcing a potential double header for Saturday.  It rained all day, and the games ended up being canceled, after we had gotten into the ballpark and stood for an hour or so watching the Hickory guys play in the batting cages.  Even worse were the ushers who, I guess, didn't realize it was raining, that the four of us (Mom and Dad were smart to wait and not make the drive to the ballpark) were the only people in the cage area staying dry, and that we personally knew most of the players.

I don't normally fault someone who is just doing their job, but this made the third time in two years that I, and other people, have been run out of an area by the Dash ushers, for no discernable reason.  She said we needed a wristband to be where we were, but it WAS RAINING and we WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE THERE!  Furthermore, I heard that the following day, folks were allowed to graph in the same area and were not run out at all.  So, yeah, the Dash ushers are the worst I have come into contact with in any Minor League stadium.  Major Leagues are a different story.  All that being said, I still did fairly well graphing, and was able to see my guy, Cody Freeman.  He even took my books from me and put them on a table near the clubhouse door, so all of the Hickory guys could sign my cards.  John Matthews took it a step further, and took the books into the clubohuse to work on the newly minted team set, until the lady told us to leave.

All in all, I was still happy; I finally got my 2014 Topps Red Hot foil parallel of Danny Farquhar signed, along with these two 2019 Bowman Chrome parallels of Jake Guenther that didn't come in until after I got home from the last trip to Winston.  The rain and humidity, paired with the rough matte finish on the team set cards killed my Staedtler, so I got some crappy autos, as well.

My friend, Jesse, hooked me up with this 2020 Bowman First Edition TK Roby, which was a nice card.

I like the team set from this year, but the cards do have a bit of a rough finish that takes away from the signatures a bit.  I later switched pens, so maybe some team set cards I get signed later this season will turn out better.

It was nice seeing the guys as much as I was able.  The experience could have been better; I wasn't a fan of the lady standing and watching the players hug Chris and rush us along as they were trying to have a conversation with him.  It bothered my sister so much, that she has sworn off going back to the Dash, which is a shame.

I'll probably go back; I mean, I have to, I have six tickets I still need to use.  I was happy to see Cody, and get a hug.  He's still one of the nicest people on the planet, and I always enjoy catching up with him.

In all, I got the following autographs: Luisangel Acuna x 3, Joe Corbett x 2, Ben Anderson x 1, Marc Church x 1, Evan Carter x 1, Cody Freeman x 2, Jake Guenther x 4, Cristian Inoa x 1, Josh Smith x 2, John Matthews x 2, Nick Krauth x 2, Triston Polley x 2, Scott Kapers x 2, Thomas Saggese x 2, Spencer Mraz x 1, TK Roby x 4, Mason Englert x 2, Owen White x 6, Kawika Emsley-Pai x 2 and Danny Farquhar x 1 (43 total signatures).