Rest in Peace, Pete Rose

He was a polarizing figure for some.  Regardless of that, he was a baseball legend.  Today, the world lost Pete Rose.  The all-time hits leader was 83.

I met Pete Rose a few times, the most memorable being at the Hall of Fame induction weekend in 2013 when no living Hall of Famers were being inducted.

I made that trip with good friend, Drew, his dad, Joemama, my son, Chris and my brother, Adam.  So much had changed since then.  I'll never forget Chris getting tired of standing in line and plopping down at the first chair he saw, next to Pete.

Chris had earlier gotten his baseball signed by Pete for free.  We were standing in line and Chris was holding a ball. Pete asked him his name and asked "Do you want me to sign your ball, buddy?" Pete did, and added his hits inscription.  I've got the ball put up for Chris.  When Chris sat beside him a bit later, he said "Hey Chris!".

I ran across Pete at a National a couple years ago, and thanked him for being cool to my son.  He didn't remember the encounter; at least he was honest about it.  I get it, he did tons of shows.  Still, I showed him the photo and he chuckled.  I, then, showed him a more recent picture of Chris and he said "Boy, look at all that hair!"  Pete could have brushed me off, but he was so nice.  Things like that won't be forgotten.  People can believe what they want about the man, but I'll sit back and reflect on my own personal experiences, and mourn him.  Rest in peace, Charlie Hustle, Hit King, Legend, Pete Rose.

Another TTM Success From Joe Morgan

Back in 2017, I got a TTM success in from former Manager, Joe Morgan.  He signed a 1960 Topps and a 1990 Topps.  Since then, I found this 1989 Topps and decided to finally send it out.  This card turned out great.  I'm glad I got it sent out.

I mailed to Morgan on August 10 and got the card back on August 22, for a 12-day TAT. 

September 21-22, 2024, Graphing of the Sounds at TIdes

The final graphing trip of the season came last weekend when Jesse and I took a trip to Norfolk.  I wanted to finish off all of the stuff I had compiled all year for the Tides.  We met my friend Michael at the stadium on Saturday and caught arrival.  Another big reason to make the trip was to hit all of the Orioles who were with the Tides on rehab assignments.  I'd say we did pretty well. 

Trevor Rogers was good for two per most every time we saw him.  We waited for him to come out post game on Sunday, but Jesse and i missed him.  We got him whenever else we saw him, though.

My friend Ryan met us on Sunday and hooked me up with a couple Coby Mayo cards signed ce he got sent down on Saturday.  I wasn't anticipating that move, so Mayo's cards had been left at home in the Orioles box.  Ryan came through in the clutch and helped me out.  I also had a bunch of cards of somr Norfolk guys that my friend Max sent me.  Those all got done, as well.

We finished off all of the Samuel Basallos that I had.  He was awarded his GED while we were in Norfolk, which was a pretty cool moment.

I cleaned out all the Beavers in Norfolk.  I had a ton of Beavers cards, and handed off some to a group of kids who were next to us while we were sitting by the wall.  One free card brought a swarm of 7-8 year old.

Michael was kind enough to share this on his Instagram.  He changed it a few minutes later with the Foo Fighters My Hero in the background.  Thanks Michael.

The best part of the whole thing was that the kid I gave the first card to (his name was Grayson) yells to his friends "this guy gave me a character card." Another kid "that's not a character, that's a person!" Grayson "He's a character to me!"

Anyway, we didn't get many autographs pregame before the first game.  The real graphing was outside.  

Surprisingly, the toughest graph was Rip Tide.  We wanted to get him during the game on Saturday, but couldn't find him.  We got him by the wall pregame Sunday.  We still need to get Triton.

Jesse and Michael hit it off during the trip.  They bounced a lot of jokes off of each other (mostly at my expense), but it was a great time.

We started graphing on Saturday at 11am and finished around 11pm, then went on to Waffle House.  The waitress tried to convince us to go out and get some cake instead of our Texas Melts.  She was pretty funny.

As you may be able to tell, we got so many cards signed on this trip.  This was probably the best two-day graphing trip I've had in some time. There wasn't a single person we tried for that wr didn't get.

I finished off almost everyone, with very few cards needing to go back into the box.   For example, JD Davis hit everything we brought.  I had brought a few extras in case Michael needed them.  I inly had left overs of Trevor Rogers and a few of the guys who weren't there to begin with (Daniel Johnson, Matt Krook, Bruce Zimmerman).

I bought a Norfolk team set on Saturday so I'd have some cards of a few of the guys I didnt bring anything for.  I got almost everyone I needed from the set.

There may be 7-10 cards left from the set of guys, but they're ones who were gone from the team.

I had told myself in the days leading up to the trip that I wouldn't try to get Nashville guys.  I pulled some anyway, and got a few done.  I had to run from the home side to the away side to get Jacob Misiorowski on my 2024 Pro Debut chrome parallel.  Aside from almost having a stroke, I was glad I got it done.  I did the run again on Sunday and got him on the Pro Debut base card to finish him off.

In all, we got the following autographs: Justin Armbruster x 1, Samuel Basallo x 6, Dylan Beavers x 5, Garrett Cooper x 9, JD Davis x 33, Tucker Davidson x 4, Jud Fabian x 4, Shayne Fontana x 1, Maverick Handley x 1, Hudson Haskin x 4, Nolan Hoffman x 1, Adrian Houser x 7, Blake Hunt x 3, Buck Britton x 1, Corbin Martin x 10, Nick Maton x 4, Coby Mayo x 4, Mike Montville x 1, Ryan Mountcastle x 4, Alan Rail x 1, Trevor Rogers x 8, Ramon Sambo x 1, Colin Selby x 5, Levi Stoudt x 2, Kade Strowd x 3, Ramon Urias x 2, Brandon Young x 1, Nick Vespi x 4, Jordan Westburg x 2, Forrest Wall x 12, Easton McGee x 1, Jacob Misiorowski x 2, Mitch White x 3, Jon Medici x 1, Justin Ramsey x 1, Rip Tide x 2 and Brewer Hicklen x 1 (155 total autographs).

TTM Success - Fritz Connally

Another 1991 Crown Orioles card came in via TTM recently when I got this one back signed by Fritz Connally.

Connally (b. 1958) played in the majors in 1984 and 1985 for the Cubs and Orioles.  He had 27 hits, 3 home runs and a .221 batting average.

I mailed to Connally on August 7 and got the card back on August 19, for a 12-day TAT. 

September 14, 2024, Graphing of the Tides at Bulls

When planning my birthday week, I realized that I hadn't seen Norfolk all season, and that they were going to be in Durham when I was coming back from Maryland.  So, Chris and I planned to hit Durham on Saturday, September 14 (my birthday) to do some more graphing.

We left Hagerstown Friday night and drove about an hour and a half south til I was too tired to drive any further.  We stayed overnight just past DC and got up the next morning to head to Durham.  I wasn't planning on doing arrival there, but as we were walking toward the stadium, we saw our good friend, Billy, outside graphing with two other graphers we knew, John and Jacob.  We got Daniel Johnson almost right away, so we stuck around and graphed with them, then went to get a drink to wait til the gates opened.

One of the highlights of this trip to Durham was knocking out several more Morgan Ensberg cards.  I got my steps in as I was following him when he signed, but we did knock out 10 more of his cards.  I also added one more card to my 2024 Durham team set in Michael Gomez.

Jacob Waguespack was easy to spot; he may as well have been wearing a name tag.  His shirt had his name on it, advertising his family's business.

I finally finished this 2024 Topps Heritage Mini Jacob Lopez.  I busted two boxes of Mini, and loved them.  Once the word got out on them, the boxes got tough to find.

I chipped away at my 2023 Norfolk team set while in Durham, hitting three coaches and Nick Vespi.

I hit all of the Garrett Cooper cards that I could find in a pinch, since I had sent him out for a 50/50 a while back.  I also had picked up a few of his cards while I was at a card shop.outside of Hagerstown the day before.  I also got a bunch of Corbin Martin done.  I found even more after I got home once I figured out where I had sat the hoard I piled up when I thought I'd see him with Buies Creek years ago (I was wrong, he was beyond BC by then).

Forrest Wall and Daniel Johnson cleaned us out, which was great.  There are still some Johnsons in a box somewhere around here that I had pulled for 50/50s, but I have no idea where I sat them.

Finally, here are a couple Levi Stoudt cards that I got signed.  He was a really nice guy and credit to the little kid who called him the wrong name, which Stoudt corrected and said "No, I'm Levi".  Thanks for the help, kid!

In all, we got the following autographs: Morgan Ensberg x 10, Michael Gomez x 1, Jacob Lopez x 1, Jacob Waguespack x 1, Samuel Basallo x 2, Buck Britton x 1, Garrett Cooper x 5, Daniel Johnson x 5, Corbin Martin x 12, Chayce McDermott x 1, Justin Ramsey x 1, Ramon Sambo x 1, Levi Stoudt x 4, Nick Vespi x 1 and Forrest Wall x 5 (51 total autographs). 

September 13, 2024, Graphing of the Revolution at Flying Boxcars

Last week was birthday week, so Chros and I took a little trip up to Baltimore for a Peark Jam concert on Thursday, September 12.  The day after, he and I drove an hour west of Baltimore and checked out the new ballpark in Hagerstown.

This season is the first season for the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.  Their new ballpark is really nice, and it looks like Hagerstown is on a path toward affiliated ball again. 

I didn't have many cards on hand for the Flying Boxcars, so I did two Sportlots orders a week before we left.  One of the packages came in, and the other one was at the house by the time we got home.  The 2019 Topps Update showing Parker Markel was one of the cards I picked up.  The Yeudy Garcia at the top is one of the cards I had already, along with the 2009 O Pee Chee Manny Corpas.

Corpas was really nice.  He told Chris and I that we should make sure to get Markel as soon as possible, since he was about to retire.  Markel confirmed as much, but was super nice.

I got several 2016 Bowman Chrome Nellie Rodriguez signed that I picked up at the National.  I also cleaned out a few 2010 Pro Debut and 2010 Bowman Cito Culver cards from my box.

I had heard horror stories about how hard it was to graph at Hagerstown.  Chris and I got everyone we needed in the span of less than 10 minutes once the players started coming out of the dugout.  I treated it like being at the dugout in Durham; I put the book through the entrance in the netting and had no problems. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Manny Corpas x 4, Cito Culver x 4, Yeudy Garcia x 1, Parker Markel x 5 and Nellie Rodriguez x 3 (17 total autographs). 

Another TTM Success From Mike Dunne

This 1989 Topps came back signed from Mike Dunne recently.  I had sent him a 1985 Topps also, but that one didn't come back. 

This card was also damaged, but I'm still glad it came back, finally.

I mailed to Dunne on November 2, 2022, and got the card back on August 19, 2024, for a 656-day TAT.

TTM Success - Adam Landecker

Here is a random 2013 Bowman that I sent out TTM, which came back signed.  I check to see if I could find an address for Adam Landecker, and found one.  The card looks cool, and I'm glad I sent it out.

Landecker (b. 1991) was a 21st round pick by the Pirates in the 2013 June Amateur Draft out of USC.  He played in the minors in 2013 and 2014 in the Pirates system.  He had 67 hits, no home runs and a .230 batting average.  He reached low A before retiring.

I mailed to Landecker on January 16 and got the card back on August 19 for a 216-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Squires

Here are some cards that had been sitting in the to-be-TTMed box for a long time.  Mike Squires charges a fee to sign, so I put off sending to him for a while, but finally got around to it.  The above 1984 Fleer turned out nicely.

I also got a 1980 Topps, 1981 Topps and a 1984 Topps signed.  I'm glad I finally got them out of the box. 

Squires (b. 1952) played in the majors in 1975 and from 1977 to 1985 for the White Sox.   He had 411 hits, 6 home runs and a .260 batting average.

I mailed to Squires on August 7 and got the cards back on August 16, for a 9-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5/card.

TTM Success - Frank Riccelli

TTMs have finally started to come back in.  Part of that is because as the season has winded down, I have had more time to drop some requests in the mail.  I've made a dent in the to-be-TTMed box, and need to add back to it.  Here's one of the random cards I had in there that I finally got around to sending out.  This is a 1980 Topps signed by Frank Riccelli.

Riccelli (b. 1953) played in the majors in 1976, 1978 and 1979 for the Giants and Astros.  He had a record of 3-3 with 32 strike outs and a 4.39 ERA.  I mailed to Riccelli on August 1 and got the card back on August 16, for a 15-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kyle Drabek

This TTM success from Kyle Drabek took a while to come in, but I was happy when it did.  This 2011 Bowman turned out nicely.  I wish it had been a parallel or something but 2011 Bowman base cards look nice, as well.

I also got a 2010 Topps Pro Debut and a 2014 Topps signed.  Getting 2010 Pro Debuts out of my box is always great, considering I have a ton of them.  I remember being really excited when Pro Debut first came out, so I bought a box, busted it and put the cards up.  I'm glad I did, since I went through that box later and found a Mike Trout.  Not bad.

Drabek (b. 1987) played in the majors from 2010 to 2016 for the Blue Jays, White Sox and Diamondbacks.  He had a record of 8-15 with 123 strike outs and a 5.26 ERA.

I mailed to Drabek on October 7 and got the cards back on August 15, for a 313-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Danny Darwin

Here is a cool 1991 Topps Desert Shield card that I found at the National in a dime box.  I knew I'd have a good shot to get it signed by Danny Darwin, so I picked it up and dropped it in the mail.  The card looks awesome.

I mailed to Darwin on July 31 and got the card back on August 13, for a 13-day TAT. 

September 3-8, 2024, Graphing of the Green Jackets at Wood Ducks

My emotions are still raw regarding the Wood Ducks finally being done in Kinston for good.  So, instead, I'll discuss the graphing results of the final home series and then weigh in later on about the Wood Ducks exit.

Since we saw that Brock Porter was back with the Woodies to close out the season, I ordered some Bowman parallels to get signed.  My favorite was the above lunar crater parallel.  These parallels look so good, in my opinion. 

I also picked up a lunar glow (left), lava refractor (middle) and a Bowman Chrome (right).  I'm glad they got here in time before the series ended.

My Pro Debut boxes came in Saturday, as I was leaving for the game, so I had to bust the boxes Saturday night when I got home and got a Luis Guanipa signed on Sunday for my first signed 2024 Pro Debut. 

Titus Dumitru is on the Braves 1994 Score that I had brought for one of the Braves top draft picks (who turned out to not have traveled with the team).  Titus was really cool, so it was easy to pick him to sign the card.

I finished off every Luis Guanipa that I had, as well as every 50/50.  Guanipa was the only prospect with mainstream cards who traveled with the team.

Augusta's coaches all had cards.  I had gotten Wynston Sawyer before, so I was out of his stuff.  Connor Justus and Elvin Nina had a couple cards, and I finished all of them off.

Einar Diaz had a ton of cards, and I took a 50/50 on him.   I got everything done, which was great.

Finally, Roy Silver showed up so (in his words) he could see Grainger Stadium one more time.  He is a really nice guy, and I was glad to see him one more time.  The Allen and Ginter Silver card was a nice touch to get signed by Roy.  I had found the card in a box and Jesse came up with the idea to try to get it signed by Roy Silver.  Silver liked the idea and had no problem signing it for me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Brock Porter x 9, Roy Silver x 4, Einar Diaz x 18, Luis Guanipa x 33, Connor Justus x 11, Kadon Morton x 1, Titus Dumitru x 1, Elvin Nina x 2, Anthony Susac x 1 and Pablo Guerrero x 1 (81 total autographs). 

August 30-31, 2024, Graphing of the Bisons at Bulls

A couple weeks ago, Jesse and I went to Durham to finish off some Buffalo guys that Chris and I may have missed when we went to Buffalo in July.

Josh Kasevich wasnt with Buffalo when we originally saw them, but I was able to find his cards pretty quickly.  I got most of what i brought of Kasevich signed. 

Jonatan Clase stopped for me be the dugout pregame, signing my 2022 Heritage Minors.  Jesse couldnt get his book out fast enough and Clase ran off.  We tried to get him again outside post-game but he wouldn't stop for us. 

I got all but two of my Eric Pardinho cards signed, finally.  He was really nice.  I also helped Max out by grtting his 2014 Topps Donnie Murphy signed.

Hagen Danner was cool.  Usually when someone's card has the wrong picture, they won't sign it.  Danner signs his 2024 Topps Heritage with a "This ain't me" inscription.

Danner signed everything we had, which got quite a few cards out of the boxes.

Cole Wilcox was finally with Durham and I got a couple Panini Stars and Stripes cards signed.  These have been in my box for a long time, and are finally signed.

Speaking of finally getting cards signed, I finally got my 2020 Bowman Ian Seymour, and these two Heriberto Hernandez cards signed.  

We also finally got cards signed by Morgan Ensberg.  You have to walk with him when he signs, as he will not stop.  Look up the reason why. It's crazy.

I picked up a Bulls team set, and knocked out a bunch of them.  There aren't many left that haven't been signed.

Over the two games, Jesse and I did pretty well. Buffalo was a pretty good team to get, and we didn't have to worry about trying to do arrival.

In all, we got the following autographs: Kenny Hook x 2, CJ Hinojosa x 1, Cole Wilcox x 4, Wool E Bull x 1, Jonatan Clase x 1, Mason Fluharty x 1, Josh Kasevich x 6, Eric Pardinho x 4, Rob Brantly x 1, Brett Ebers x 1, Morgan Ensberg x 10, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Tyler Ladendorf x 1, Jake Mangum x 1, Enmanuel Mejia x 1, Mason Montgomery x 1, Tristan Peters x 1, Joe Record x 1, Joe Rock x 1, Reynaldo Ruiz x 1, Ian Seymour x 2, Riley Welch x 1, Nathan Wiles x 1, Hagen Danner x 11, Braydon Fisher x 2 and Donnie Murphy x 2 (61 total autographs).