May 23, 2024, Graphing of the Redbirds at Bulls

Needing to burn some PDOs, I took yesterday and today off with the intention of hitting arrival at Durham.  I was able to rack pretty well during the trip up there; so much so, I was able to get autographs 5 times (arrival, batting practice, inside pregame, inside postgame and outside postgame.  I prepped for the trip for several weeks and was really happy with how I did, along with my friend, Jordan.  The main card I wanted to get done was the above 2024 Topps Jordan Walker black gold insert.  I hit it outside, so everything else later was gravy.

Shane Baz was the other guy that I really wanted to get.  He hit a whole page outside on arrival.  The (bottom left) 2018 Bowman Hi Tek was the other card I really wanted to get.  Baz was really cool.  He did comment outside postgame about how many cards I had.  What can I say, I had a ton. 

Chris Devenski was the first graph we got; he was really cool and signed a 2019 Topps Heritage, and the above (bottom left) 2016 Heritage Minors Minor Miracles card that I just happened to see that he was on.

I spent a lot of time looking for the 2017 Topps Heritage Minors CJ Hinojosa (top, second from left), so I was really excited to get it done.  The 2013 Topps Emerald Parallel of Rob Brantly just happened to appear on my desk and I was able to add it to the book for this trip.  I was alsonavle to get Ronny Simon and Logan Driscoll. 

Yu Chang was on the IL, but was still in town.  He hit two per for us the two times we saw him.  He was really nice and I hope I can get him a few more times. 

The guys on Memphis were all really cool.  I got Ben Johnson, Howie Clark, Moises Gomez, Jose Fermin, Adam Kloffenstein and Zack Thompson.  The Fermin was the first IP 2024 Topps that I've gotten.  His signature looks awesome.

Cesar Prieto hit everything I had in the book.  He said he'd sign after stretching, then walked by without signing.  I called his name again, and he pointed at me, acknowledged me and came back by.  He was really nice.

I also hit Luken Baker, who is a large human being, Andre Pallante and again, Jordan Walker.

Finally, here is a 2022 Topps Pro Debut Michael McGreevy.  I got him inside postgame.  He pitched a great game (a complete game), but took the 1-0 loss after a passed ball allowed a runner to score.

In all, we got the following autographs: Shane Baz x 11, Rob Brantly x 5, Yu Chang x 5, Chris Devenski x 2, Logan Driscoll x 3, CJ Hinojosa x 1, Ronny Simon x 2, Edwin Uceta x 1, Luken Baker x 3, Howie Clark x 1, Jose Fermin x 1, Moises Gomez x 5, Ben Johnson x 1, Adam Kloffenstein x 5, Michael McGreevy x 3, Andre Pallante x 3, Cesar Prieto x 6, Zack Thompson x 1 and Jordan Walker x 2 (61).

Christmas Gift From Sam

My friend, Sam, sent me a surprise package for Christmas. I hadn't heard from him since he hooked me up with a couple cases of ROMLBs a few months ago. He's been busy working.  Sam sent me a ton of autos to clean out his collection. There were some great guys in the stack that he sent me, like the above 2014 Bowman Josh Hader.

I'm going to try and name all of the players that Sam sent, so everything is searchable.  That helps me with future graphing and posts, which is something should have been doing all along.  In this scan are cards of Ryon Healy, Jake Skole, Logan Shore and Braden Bishop, It has been a while since i added a 2015 Panini Contenders, which was one of the Braden Bishop cards (top left).

The top left dual of Braden Bishop and Austin Rei is one i could finish.  I've seen that Rei has been signing.  The rest of the cards in this scan are of Marvin Gorgas, Bryson Brigman, Nick Wells, Raul Mondesi and Logan Allen.

Johendi Jiminian (bottom center and right) is a guy that I've never heard of.  I'd have tried to send to him TTM if i had some of his cards, with that unique name.  The other guys in this scan are Delino DeShields Jr, Lance McCullers, Hunter Dozier, Cameron Rupp, Vernon Wells and Luke Jackson.  Jackson used to be Sam's guy for a while. 

The next batch of guys was Mike Nikorak, CJ Edwards, Jacob Nix, Scott Blewett, Foster Griffin and DJ Peters.  I had gotten Blewett myself a while back, but never on the 2016 Bowman.  I don't know how I missed that back then.

The next guys are Ariel Jurado, Mitchell White, Jose DeLeon, Grant Holmes, Mike White, Mike Leake, Travis Kuhn and Justin Nicolino.  I jad hoped to catch Nicolino last season in High Point.  I believe he was on one of the teams I saw there.  I e gotten Grant Holmes before.  He's been around for quite a while.

Finally, here is Max Muncy on a 2013 Panini Prizm and a 2014 Midland RockHounds teak set card.  I was also happy to see this Daniel Vogelbach 2013 Bowman Chrome.  Danny Effin Burgers.

Sam also sent me a stack of certified autos and several signed baseballs.  I don't know what I did for Sam to send me all of this stuff, but I am so appreciative. Sam has taken care of me as of late.  I hate that we don't get the chance to talk like we used to around 10 years ago, but he's still a good friend.  Thank you so much, Sam!

TTM Success - Andrew Calica

Here is a 2017 Topps Heritage Minors of Andrew Calica that I missed getting signed back when it came out, only to finally get it signed TTM. I have just a handful of 2017 Topps Heritage Minors left in my box, and I really like to continue to thin them down.

Calica (b. 1994) was an 11th round pick by the Indians in the 2016 June amateur Draft out of UC Santa Barbara. He played in the minors from 2016 to 2019 in the Indians system.  He had 293 hits, 15 home runs and a .293 batting average in 4 minor league seasons.

I mailed to Calica on February 11 and got the card back on April 20, for a 68-day TAT.

TTM Success - Andrew Sopko

I was able to get some cards out of my prospects box with this TTM success from Andrew Sopko.  I especially was happy to get this 2017 Topps Heritage Minors card signed, as I have done a good job in getting rid of most of the extras I had, so getting anything else signed is good.

Also moving any 2017 Bowman card is a good thing, too.  I have a bunch of them, still, and I really liked getting those signed, but that has slowed down (even before COVID).

Sopko (b. 1994) was a 7th round pick by the Dodgers in the 2015 June Amateur Draft out of Gonzaga.  So far, he has 5 minor league seasons for the Dodger and Blue Jay organizations.  He has reached as high as AAA, but has yet to crack the majors.

He has a minor league record of 30-25 with 434 strike outs and a 3.89 ERA.

I mailed to Sopko on January 8, 2019, and got the cards back on October 16, 2020, for a 647-day TAT.

TTM Success - Logan Shore

I joined the Baseball Prospects Private Signings page on Facebook, and entered this private signing for Logan Shore.  The signing helped me get two cards out of my Box of Shame.  I especially wanted to get this blue parallel from 2017 Heritage Minors signed, and it looks great.

I went ahead and got the base card from 2017 Heritage Minors signed as well.  That at least gets two cards signed that I missed out on in a 50/50 last season.

Shore (b. 1994) was a 2nd round pick by the A's in the 2016 June Amateur Draft.  He has reached AA, and is now in the Tigers system.  In the minors, he has a record of 9-20 with 240 strike outs and a 3.76 ERA.

I mailed to the signing on August 7 and got the cards back on September 11, for a 35-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $5/card.

A Long Awaited Trade With Sam

What can I say about Sam?  I've known him for a long time.  A very long time, really.  I finally got to meet him in person back in 2018 when Chris and I went to Texas, and that was a really nice time.  We used to talk every day, now I may hear from him once a year.  Maybe.  It's a common thing, really.  You become friends with someone, get pretty close, then start drifting apart, until you finally realize that you hardly talk at all.  Or you get a text message from them, and realize their number isn't even in your phone anymore.

I liked Sam so much, I took all of the photos he had sent me over time that had him with baseball players, and I made him a shutterfly book that he could share, and maybe get signed by said players.  It took a lot of work, but I felt like it would be a nice thing to do.  I hope he liked it.

I got a message out of the blue from Sam a few months ago, asking me if I would trade him an extra DL Hall autograph that I had gotten IP for some cards that Sam had gotten himself over the years.  I wasn't sure what all he would send, but it made for a nice "blind trade".  Those can be fun, really.

I thought I would maybe get one auto back, but Sam, in fact, sent 4.  None of which I had, which was even better!  The above Mike Nikorak 2015 Bowman refractor is especially nice, since I missed out on him when I saw Asheville a couple years ago (it's ok, I got Riley Pint on EVERYTHING I had).

Sam also included these three cards.  I had sent to DJ Peters TTM, but it got returned to sender, so that helps.  I also was glad to get a Sean Murphy auto back, since I tried to 50/50 on him, but the person missed him.  I sent TTM to Logan Allen, and those cards are out somewhere, hopefully coming back sometime.

So, it was nice to hear from Sam, finally.  I don't hold out any expectation that more trades are in our future, but I do wish him the best.  I hope his knee heals, and he can continue to pitch in college and realize his dream.  He has all of these players he met who he holds in high regard, and I know he aspires to achieve success like they have.

Thanks for the deal, Sam.  Hope to hear from you soon.

An Instagram Trade With Al

Believe it or not, I actually hate trading.  Usually, it is a long, drawn out process where you have to haggle with folks and/or meet their demands to pull something decent off.  I prefer the arrangements I have with friend such as Max or Gerard where we just send each other stuff we think the other would like, and in the end, things kind of wash out.

That's not to be said,though, that I won't pull off a trade here and there.  Recently, a guy on Instagram named Al approached me about trading our extra prospect autos from IP graphing.  I keep a box of extra autos just for this reason, and with the cards that I had built up, I made a pretty sweet deal.

Al was super generous with his cards, and I didn't know he would be at the start.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the deal until he sent me some photos of cards he was making available.  The 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Gavin Lux is the card that got my attention, and ultimately what persuaded me to strike a deal.

I had a couple unsigned versions of the card, but I had no way of seeing Lux in person in order to get one signed.  I know he is a really well thought of prospect, so I was hoping I would have a chance to get him at some point.

Al and I basically did a card-for-card trade, but the autograph he was most focused on was Nick Madrigal.  I had one left, and was able to include it in the deal.  I think including that card set the wheels in motion on Al's end, and I think the both of us are very excited about each person's returns.  I was able to get: Lux, Jeff Brigham, Dilson Herrera, Lewis Brinson, Tyler Alexander, Helmis Rodriguez, Daniel Robertson, Chris Ellis, Ryan McMahon, Austin Beck...

 Justus Sheffield, AJ Reed, Forrest Wall, Rosell Herrera, Kyle Freeland, Alex Verdugo, Jamie Westbrook, Cody Reed, Sam Selman...

Jairo!, Tyler Danish, Andrew Sopko x 3, and Pat Neshek.  Al also included autos of Josh Morgan and Collin Wiles, but I already had them, so those will either be included in a future trade with someone else, or they'll make it into a gift or something.

I was very happy with my deal with Al.  He and I agreed to do some 50/50s together, if the season can ever get going.

TTM Success - Chance Adams

I was able to get a few cards out of my minors box and have them signed when I got this TTM success from Chance Adams.  He has a lot of nice cards, and I am glad I got the ones signed that I did.

My stack of 2017 Topps Heritage minors has gotten smaller and smaller, which is nice.  It allows me some room to add more cards to the box.  I'm surprised that I have been able to get as many cards signed as I have from that set.

Adams (b. 1994) has played in the majors since 2018 and has a record of 1-2 with 27 strike outs and a 8.18 ERA.  He was a 5th round pick in the 2015 June Amateur Draft by the Yankees.

I mailed to Adams on July 23, 2019, via the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders and got the cards back on March 2, 2020, for a 223-day TAT.

TTM Success - Taylor Clarke

I added some more cards recently by sending TTM to Taylor Clarke at Spring Training.  I got the above 2017 Topps Heritage Minors and the below 2018 Bowman signed by Clarke very nicely with a blue Sharpie.

Clarke (b. 1993) made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks last year.  He went 5-5 with a 5.31 ERA and 68 strike outs.

I mailed to Clarke on February 10 and got the cards back on February 28, for an 18-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ryan Helsley

I like adding different kinds of cards to my autograph album.  I had hoped that when I busted a blaster box of 2019 Topps Holiday, that I would be able to get a few cards signed.  Thankfully, I got this Ryan Helsley back signed when I sent to him TTM.

Helsley also signed this 2017 Topps Heritage Minors.  I still have a good many 2017 Heritage Minors left in my minors box, but I had knocked the number down significantly over the years.

Helsley (b. 1994) pitched in the majors for the Cardinals in 2019.  He has a record of 2-0 with 32 strike outs and a 2.95 ERA.

I mailed to Helsley on January 6 and got the cards back on February 7, for a 32-day TAT.

California 50/50s

I received a message on Instagram from my friend Dylan in California saying that he was going to an event organized by Daniel Robertson.  There were a good many players attending, and Dylan was nice enough to take some cards off of my hands for a 50/50.

I was really glad that Dylan was willing to take Brice Turang, since I still had a bunch of his cards on hand.  I didn't send him too many, because Dylan wasn't sure how many Turang would sign, but I believe he ended up taking 6 of my cards.  He actually sent 4 signed cards back, so Chris got one of the extras.

I sent Dylan every Josh Staumont that I had, since I had a bunch of his all together because I thought I would see him with Wilmington.  I never did see him, but it helped that they were all in one place.

I missed Cody Ponce signing this 2016 Pro Debut, so getting that out of the Box of Shame was nice.  I only had one Daniel Robertson, and Dylan was nice enough to not require another card as part of the 50/50.

I was disappointed that I missed sending him some of my 2013 Perfect Game Jacob Nix cards.  I forgot he was in that set.  It would have been nice to get rid of some of them.

I had the 2015 Bowman Rio Ruiz set aside for Orioles Fan Fest, but since they canceled it, I was able to get one back from Dylan.

Thank you so much for taking the cards, Dylan!

TTM Success - Bryan Reynolds

I meant to post this TTM success from Bryan Reynolds yesterday, but I was very busy, so it got pushed back to today.

I was able to get a few cards out of my prospects box and have them signed, and they really turned out well.

Reynolds signed everything with a thin blue Sharpie, and the cards look great.

Reynolds (b. 1995) was a second round pick in the 2016 June Amateur Draft by the Giants.  He made his major league debut this past april and played 134 games for the Pirates.  He finished 4th in the NL MVP voting after collecting 154 hits, 16 home runs and a .314 batting average.

I mailed to Reynolds on November 25 and got the cards back on December 14, for a 19-day TAT.

Some 50/50s From Dylan

My friend, Dylan, lives in Connecticut and graphs the Connecticut Tigers.  This season, he took a few 50/50s for me and helped me get a couple cards out of my box.

I was especially happy he took this Bryant Packard and got it signed for me, since I only had the one card.  Packard formerly went to ECU, but I have never tried to graph there.  I have heard it is pretty easy, but I didn't try, and ended up sending this out after Packard was drafted by the Tigers.

Dylan also sent these three cards back.  I always enjoy getting the older stuff out of my boxes.  I've become a bit of a card hoarder, and it really helps to be able to move some of the older stuff.  One of these days, I'll do another show and unload some stuff.  In the meantime, I will reduce my boxes card by card as I get stuff signed.

Thanks for the 50/50s, Dylan!

TTM Success - Taylor Trammell

I was told by my friend, Kaleb, that Taylor Trammell was signing TTM, so I dropped a couple cards in the mail to see if I could score his auto.  He signed for me, and inscribed each card.  The autos look really cool.

Trammell (b. 1997) was a first round pick (35th overall) by the Reds in the 2016 June Amateur Draft out of high school.  He has made his way to Chattanooga, the Reds AA team.  So far, he has 327 hits, 25 home runs and a .287 batting average across 4 minor league campaigns.

I mailed to Trammell on February 27 via Reds Spring Training and got the cards back on March 14, for a 15-day TAT.

Some 50/50 Autos From Dylan D

My friend, Dylan in Connecticut, offered to take some 50/50s last season and kind of forgot to mail my end back to me.  He thought he mailed the package, but it ended up under some stuff on his desk.  It happens to the best of us.  It worked to my benefit, though, because I had completely forgot that I sent him anything, and he sent back extras because he felt bad.  Thanks, Dylan!  The above Chris Davis signed Orioles team card was one of the extras.

He took Delvin Perez for me, and I sent him every card that I could find.  They all turned out well, and I was glad to move something out of my box that I wouldn't have been able to get signed, myself.

The blue 2017 Topps Heritage Minors was especially nice, I think.

He also saw Aberdeen (I think) and got me some Orioles cards signed.  He also got Chris Kohler for me, although I don't remember which team he was on.

Finally, another of the extras was this 1989 Topps Pat Borders.  It looks like Pat gave Dylan a shaky auto, but I am still glad to be adding it to my album.

Thanks for the cards and the 50/50, Dylan!

TTM Success - Nick Solak

I hd this 2018 Bowman Chrome purple refractor of Nick Solak and was really glad to see that he signed TTM.  So, I powdered the card and sent a few others to him to get him to sign.  The card looks really nice.

He inscribed each card to me, which was a nice touch.  I was also glad to get my 2018 Topps Heritage Minors signed that shows him in a Biscuits uniform.

Solak (b. 1995) was a second round pick by the Yankees in the 2016 draft out of the University of Louisville.  He was traded to the Rays in a three-team trade also involving the Diamondbacks for Brandon Drury.

So far Solak has 350 hits, 34 home runs and a .296 batting average in 3 minor league seasons.  He has played as high as AA ball.

I mailed to Solak on October 22 and got the cards back on November 19, for a 28-day TAT.

Some Signed Cards From Michael

Toward the end of the Wood Ducks season, my friend Michael came back down to visit.  During his visit, we traded some IP autos, and I ended up with some nice stuff for my album.  One of the highlights was this 1987 Topps Gary Roenicke for the set.  I thought I had Roenicke already, but it turns out that I didn't.  Now I do have it and the Earth can continue to spin.

I grabbed quite a few 2017 Heritage Minors, and even some extras of these that I can use as trade bait.

Michael got a ton of cards signed by Jay Bell, so I picked a few that looked nice, and added those to the pile.

I needed Butch Davis on something other than the 1985 Topps that I had gotten TTM.  This 1984 Donruss is pretty cool looking, and I don't have very many of them.

Finally, I added these.  The Denard Span 2017 Topps looks really cool with the Wrigley ivy in the background.

Thanks for the deal, Michael!