There were a couple names on the Lehigh Valley roster that I was interested in getting. That was mostly because there are several guys on their roster who have been around for a while, and I just haven't had the chance to either meet or finish off their cards.
Jeff Hoffman was one of the players that I hadn't been able to get in person. I saw Hoffman pitch at ECU, and mentioned ECU to him when he stopped and signed for me on arrival. He is normally one per, but signed two cards for me then, including the above 2015 Panini Contenders showing Hoffman in his ECU gear,
Since I planned this for a while, I made a day of it. I got to Durham around 11:30, having left a little early so I could have time to stop and get something to eat. I know myself, and I would have hung out there waiting for guys to arrive and wouldn't have eaten all day, so I made sure to get that done. That made me earlier than planned. I usually like to get to Durham around noon to graph arrival. Getting there a little early helped; I learned that the Bulls have flip flopped locker rooms and entrances, so I was at the wrong spot for about 30 minutes. I saw two players going in, and I froze. I'm pretty sure Kyle Manzardo was one of the guys I missed.
Finally getting to the right spot, I broke the ice with former Oriole, Luis Ortiz. I recognized him, and he finished off the last few cards of him that I could find in my collection. We talked for a few minutes. He's a really nice guy, and it looks like he is doing a lot better after leaving Baltimore.
John Hicks helped get some older cards out of my boxes. I was glad to add a couple 2011 Bowmans to the autograph book and get them signed. Adding these to the book is getting rarer and rarer, so it was a nice treat to get a couple of them done.
Speaking of getting cards out of boxes, I have a box of cards of guys who should have or did come through the Carolina League, and I missed. Hans Crouse never got to Kinston, having skipped over the team and missing time due to injuries and the COVID season. He was finally traded away from the Rangers, so I had a bunch of his stuff that I had stockpiled and never got signed.
Crouse saw me standing there and walked right up to me with his wife and son. He signed for me and talked to me for a bit as the other two watched on. His wife thought it was cool to point out to his son that his dada had cards (his son looks to be a little over 1 or so). The little guy is adorable. Crouse was super nice and signed all of the cards I brought with me. That made a huge dent in the stockpile I had created.
Jeff Hoffman was really nice, as well. He was glad to finally be playing back in NC. I got him on arrival, inside, and post game.
There were a bunch of people there to see Scott Kingery, and I was glad to get him on these two cards. He signed for me inside pre-game. Outside post-game, he saw me and asked if he had signed for me before, and I said yes and yielded to everyone else. He signed a second time for Pete (if you have ever graphed in Durham, you know who he is), so I got one of the other graphers there to take my Archives card (the pink one) and she got it done for me. I thanked her several times, even though I think she had no idea why I had asked her for her help. She had Phillies gear on, so of course he signed for her twice. My Wichita Turbo Tubs jersey was a bit too flashy, I guess.
Francisco Morales was good for one per, which after Arrival and pre-game, left me with one last unsigned card of him. I missed him post-game, so that card will go in the box of shame.
I was really happy to take Aramis Garcia out of the box of shame and get some of his cards signed, finally. I had pulled him years ago for Richmond graphing and never got him, so those cards have sat around for a long time. That was pre-box of shame stuff.
Ben Bowden hit every card I had in one shot, which was nice. I liked getting the gold foil 2021 Topps Update taken care of.
Simon Muzziotti was good for 3-per each time I saw him (pre-game and post-game). Heath Hembree was the only guy I was able to get during BP, but that was probably a good thing. Once I got him, I went down the street and got something to eat and drink, since I had been out there a good 4 hours by then.
I was glad to add a 2023 Topps to the book and get it signed by Jonathan Aranda. That's the first IP auto on a 2023 Topps for me, which was cool. I was able to get a couple Oslevis Basabe cards back signed from my friends Carson and Gerard from Spring Training, so these two were the last ones I had.
My good friend, Max hooked me up with several Ran Buchter and Heath Hembree cards, so I didn't have to hit my older Topps boxes too hard to find stuff. I did find my own Buchter, so that one got done, as well.
I had Cesar Ramos pulled to try him TTM a while back, and I had never sent them. I knew exactly where they were (rare) and they are all done now.
Max also provided some 2015 Topps Update Ranos cards, I got all but 3 of those done. We missed him outside post-game.
TJ Zeuch was another of the guys that I really wanted to get. He signed only one card, but this 2020 Panini Select is finally signed. I had sent it to someone for 50/50s in 2021, they missed him, and the cards of his have been in the box of same since then. Max sent some Zeuch cards as well, but with him only doing one outside post-game, the Select was the one that got signed.
Finally, I got Kam Misner on a few cards. I had some help with a fellow grapher outside post-game, so he got me a few extra Misner, Garcia and Nico Hulziser. All it took was an extra Jeff Hoffman ECU card.
The 2002 Topps Total Brian Reith card is just a random card from a random set that I had seen in my boxes during a recent pass through them to find other stuff. When I remembered that I had it, and that he was a coach with Durham, I went through 4 boxes to finally find it. I'm glad I did, but going through 4 boxes to find one card kind of sucks. Had I not gotten it signed, I probably would have been irritated. Thankfully, it is done and it looks good.
This was only the second time I have tried a day in Durham by myself. I have to start getting used to that, since Chris is working now, and all of my graphing friends have gotten jobs that make Saturday (or any, for that matter) graphing impossible. Still, I had a good time, and enjoyed the beautiful weather at a ballpark that I have come to really love.
In all, I got the following autographs: Ben Bowden x 4, Ryan Buchter x 5, Hans Crouse x 16, Aramis Garcia x 9, John Hicks x 8, Jeff Hoffman x 4, Scott Kingery x 2, Francisco Morales x 2, Simon Muzziotti x 6, Luis Ortoz x 4, Esteban Quiroz x 1, Cesar Ramos x 7, TJ Zeuch x 1, Jonathan Aranda x 2, Oslevis Basabe x 2, Cooper Criswell x 1, Heath Hembree x 6, Niko Hulsizer x 4, Curtis Mead x 1, Kam Misner x 5, Luis Patino x 1 and Brian Reith x 1 (92 total autographs).
No comments:
Post a Comment