Another Care Package From Drake

My friend Drake sent me another scare package recently.  He sent me some really nice cards, some of which I'd never have been able to get myself.  The above 2019 Bowman of Ryan Costello is a really nice autograph.  Costello passed away a few years ago while playing in Australia; I never got to see him play.  My buddy Jackson was on that tour of Australia when Costello passed, along with former Wood Ducks manager, Steven Mintz.

In this batch of cards, Drake sent signed cards of Anthony Vizcaya, Brandon Winokur, Tanner Hall, Charlee Soto, Jaime Ferrer, Billy Amick, Byron Chourio and Kaelen Culpepper.  Drake gets down to Fort Myers at times and helped me by taking a 50/50 of some Twins prospects.  I don't think the Byron Chourio was originally mine.  I don't remember having a blue parallel, so it may have been part of the gift Drake paired with sending back my 50/50s.

Here are signed cards of Joshua Baez, Zach Levenson, Triston Casas, Ed Howard, Alex Binelas, Brett Baty, Ezequiel Pagan and Bobby Wahl.  I do know that the pink Joshua Baez was mine.  Drake saw Springfield and got some cards signed for me there.  The rest are extras he had gotten in the past.

Here are Thomas Jones, Justin Lavey, Hunter Mink, Blake Loubier, Kyle Gaedele and Sam Coonrod.  Drake is close to one of the Frontier League teams and also can see a few teams in the American Association.  He took some Sam Coonrod cards for me, along with a couple Kyle Gaedele.

These are a few landscape-oriented cards of Sam Coonrod and Brandon Winokur.  I know these are a few that I sent for 50/50s.

Drake also sent cards like this Jose Rondon 2015 Bowman Chrome mini purple shimmer.  He said that someone owed him cards and finally paid up.  He sent me some of the extras from that deal, I believe.

Finally, Drake sent some great surprises in the package like CC Sabathia, Allen Craig, Desmond Jennings, Miguel Olivo, WIll Venable, Tyler Glasnow, Marcus Thames and Carlos Rodon.  All of these are guys I wouldn't normally get to see.  I did see Typer Glasnow back when he was on rehab in Durham.  The Sabathia was a definite surprise.

Drake hooks me up more often than not.  I really appreciate the autographs and look forward to the next care package.  Thanks so much, Drake!

Some Autographs From AJ

My buddy AJ recently sent me a few autographs because he felt that they'd be in a better place in my autograph album as opposed to his closet.  I was amazed when I opened the package and saw the cards inside.  He told me ahead of time that he would be sending me a few IP autos that he had gotten but didn't tell me who had signed the cards.  When I saw this 1990 Topps Roger Clemens, I was very surprised. 

AJ also sent me a 2006 Fleer Jeff Francis, 2019 Bowman Draft Christian Cairo and 2019 Bowman Draft Brett Baty.  I hadn't gotten these three guys before, so that was cool.

Finally, here is a 2019 Topps Stadium Club Adam Jones.  This is a really nice card.  Im disappointed that I didnt get a return from Jones during Spring Training. 

I feel really bad because I opened the package from AJ when it came in, was super excited to get the cards, then I put them aside to scan for a later post.  In that time, I completely forgot that it was AJ who sent them to me.  He reminded me when I posted on Instagram that he had sent them.  AJ, again, I'm sorry that I forgot.  Thank you so much for the cards.

Logan K Returns Some Autographs

A cool thing that happened when Chris and I were on our road trip out west was meeting some of the local graphers at the stadiums that we went to.  I was able to connect with one of the ones from Wichita, and he agreed to take some cards that I missed and try to get them signed.  He had never done a 50/50 with someone before, but that's not quite what we did.  Instead, we pretty much did a league swap.  I got him some Wood Ducks, and also some of their opponents.  Logan worked on some of my Wichita stuff, and also took some other teams.

Logan saw Corpus Christi after I had left Wichita, so he took some of the cards I had for them.  I was really happy to get the above Matt Ruppenthal from my Midwest League All Star set completed, as well as the Joe Perez 2017 Bowman Chrome purple refractor.

Logan sent back a few of the Wichita team set guys I missed; he is still working on some of the others.  I tried to get Simeon Woods-Richardson, but missed him completely.  I would have knocked out several of his cards, had I been able to stop him.  He signs TTM, but it is still nice getting people in person.

Here are the rest of the Corpus Christi guys that Logan got for me.  I had these pulled and put aside with Astros stuff, since Fayetteville is their Low A team.  I had never pulled the higher-up guys out of the box (thanks for not getting around to it).  It ended up making for a quick search when Logan told me he was seeing Astros AA guys.

Thanks for getting the autographs for me, Logan.  Next year, we will be able to swap early on, and knock out a lot more stuff!

TTM Success - Hudson Head

This past spring, a few Pirates prospects offered to sign some cards TTM for a small fee.  I took advantage and sent two cards to Hudson Head.  The cards turned out great, even though after I had sent the cards and fee out, I saw Head in Greensboro and got the same kinds of cards signed.

Head (b. 2001) was a third round draft pick by the Padres in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school.  He was traded to the Pirates prior to the 2021 season.  He has 143 hits, 18 home runs and a .227 batting average.

I mailed to Head on January 15 and got the cards back on April 7, for an 82-day TAT.  I paid the fee of $10.00/card.

Another TTM Success From JJ Bleday

Here are some great cards I was able to pull from my prospects boxes and get signed TTM from Marlins prospect, JJ Bleday.  The above 2019 Bowman Chromw Draft Pick Breakdown card was one I absolutely wanted to get signed, so I sent it out to Bleday, along with the below inserts from 2020 and 2021 Heritage Minors.

I got a full sig on the Chrome and a short sig on the two Heritage Minors cards, but they all look really cool.

Bleday (b. 1997) was a first round (4th overall) pick in the 2019 June Amateur Draft by the Marlins out of Vanderbilt.  He has played in the Marlins system since 2019, reaching AA.  He has 120 hits, 15 home runs and a .224 batting average.

I mailed to Bleday on January 3 and got the cards back on January 18, for a 15-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jack Kochanowicz

Stepping away, for a brief moment, from my 2021 Bowman Draft TTM successes, I received this TTM success from Jack Kochanowicz on a 2019 Bowman Draft.  The card turned out nicely of course.

Kochanowicz (b. 2000) was a 3rd round pick by the Angels in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Harriton High School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.  He played at Low A Inland Empire this past season, going 4-2 with 73 strike outs and a 6.91 ERA.

I mailed to Kochanowicz on January 6 and got the card back on January 18, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Alejandro Kirk

Another Spring Training TTM success came back for me, this one of Alejandro Kirk.  I got a 2019 Topps Heritage Minors and a 2019 Bowman Draft signed by Kirk.

Kirk (b. 1998) has played in the majors since 2020 for the Blue Jays.  He has 49 hits, 9 home runs and a .259 batting average.

I mailed to Kirk via Blue Jays Spring Training on February 9 and got the cards back on May 13, for a 93-day TAT.

TTM Success - Will Robertson

Here is a 2019 Bowman Draft that I was able to get signed TTM by Will Robertson.  He signed the card in silver Sharpie, and it turned out great.

Robertson (b.1997) was a 4th round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Creighton University.  He has played 2 seasons in the Blue Jays organization, reaching High A.  He has 103 hits, 11 home runs and a .261 batting average.

I mailed to Robertson on July 24, 2020, and got the card back on March 20, 2021, for a 239-day TAT.

August 22, 2021, Graphing Recap of Dash at Crawdads

A last minute trip t Hickory yesterday yielded a few autographs to put into my binder after I did a little pregame graphing with Chris.  We had gone to one of my dad's races in Mooresville, and I figured I would try to get a few cards from the Wood Ducks team set taken care of while I was in the general area.  Unfortunately, most of the former Wood Ducks I needed were pitchers, and I learned that it is really hard to get pitchers to sign in Hickory with their COVID restrictions.  You can hardly get near any of them if they hang in the bullpen area.

Still, we came away with a few signed cards, even though we left in the third inning so we could get home at a decent time.  I was really glad to get the above 2017 Panini Elite Extra Edition David Garcia signed.  I got this card when the 2017 Elite Extra Edition came out, and kept the card with my Rangers stuff, waiting for him to come to the Wood Ducks.  He never did, but thankfully, I noticed him on the Crawdads roster, and remembered exactly where I had the card.  It looks great, and it is one less card hanging out in my box, now.

I knocked out a couple Jonathan Ornelas cards; he signed 2 per for both Chris and I.  I also took a 50.50 from Gerard, and got a could Jared Walkers knocked out for him.  The 2014 Bowman was mine to begin with, and he provided a blue wave chrome version of that same card, and two of the 2014 Elite Extra Editions.

I dug deep in my boxes and came up with the 1998 Team Best Hiram Bocachica, which was a cool find.  He was really nice, and spoke with me and a nice lady who was beside me, a Crawdads season ticket holder who helped me identify the players as they walked by.  She saved me a ton of time from having to look at the roster and match up numbers.

I was able to get one former Wood Duck, Dustin Harris, which was nice, because he is tearing up High A pitching at the moment.  It was also nice to hit a couple 2019 Bowman draft, and also the 2020 Topps Heritage Minors Ezequiel Duran.

The season is winding down, and I doubt I'll be able to do many more away games at other stadiums, but I'm going to try.  I know I've knocked out more cards that I thought I would this season, and there's still 3 or 4 weeks to go.

TTM Success - Grant McCray

Here are a couple nice 2019 Bowman Draft cards that I was able to get back signed from Grant McCray.

He signed a paper 2019 Draft and a Chrome. Both turned out nicely. 

McCray (b. 2000) was a 3rd round pick in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Lakewood Ranch High School in Florida.

McCray has played two seasons in the Giants system (both in the Arizona Rookie League; or whatever they're calling it today).  He has 54 hits, one home run and a  .262 batting average.

I mailed to him on December 1 and got the cards back on March 12, for a 101-day TAT.

July 10, 2021, Graphing Recap of Hillcats at Mudcats

A snap decision to take a look at the Lynchburg Hillcats while they were in Zebulon facing the Mudcats led me to almost missing getting several cards signed.  I had a couple guys send me Lynchburg cards to get signed as a 50/50 just in case I saw them, and I had some put aside from 2020 and 2021 Bowman.  I missed the guys I had pulled back in 2018 and 2019 and put aside in a Carolina League graphing box that I had put together.  Thankfully, about 15 minutes before we left for Zebulon, I remembered that I had that stash of cards.  I got them all prepped and into my snap case in time to leave for the game, then loaded them into my books for pre-game.  One of the cards was the above 2018 Bowman Chrome gold refractor of Lenny Torres.

The day actually called for a double header, and I came only armed with Hillcats cards in three books; me; my son, Chris and my friend, Tyler.  We were able to finish up everyone by the start of the second game, which was great, because it was super hot and humid out there.  We ended up leaving halfway though the second game since we were really tired and thirsty (and didn't want to continue to pay $6.00 for bottled soda).

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish off some of the cards, since this would be the only time I would see the Hillcats.  Luckily, none of the players limited, and we were able to see all of the ones I had brought cards for.  Daniel Espino was especially nice, signing everything that each of us had, and also carrying on lengthy conversations with each grapher he came into contact with.

I had a whole bunch of different Espino cards, and I was really happy with how they all turned out.

I was worried that I would miss Petey Halpin.  He walked by before the first game and said he would come back.  Turned out, he meant he would come back after the first game.  He did, and signed everything we had.

Finally, we were able to get Josh Wolf, who also was really nice, and talkative.  The whole group of Hillcats that we saw were all super nice and talkative.

We ended up getting: Espino x 21, Christian Cairo x 5, Petey Halipn x 4, Korey Holland x 3, Gabriel Rodriguez x 2, Lenny Torres x 6, Yordys Valdez x 3 and Josh Wolf x 10, or a total of 54 signatures.

TTM Success - Eric Yang

This 2019 Bowman Draft card of Eric Yang really turned out well when it came back signed TTM.  I only pulled one card of him, but it was worth sending.

Yang (b. 1998) was a 7th round pick by the Reds in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of UC-Santa Barbara.  He has played in two seasons in the Reds system (2019 and 2021), reaching High A.  He has 71 hits, 6 home runs and a .251 batting average over those two seasons.

I mailed to Yang on January 6 and got the card back on March 1, for a 54-day TAT.

TTM Success - Michael Toglia

Here are some nice prospect cards I got back from Michael Toglia.  The above 2019 Panini Prizm turned out great.  I didn't have a lot of them, so it was nice to add this one to the autograph album.

I also got a 2019 Bowman Draft and a 2020 Bowman Draft signed, and I like how they turned out.

Toglia (b. 1998) was a first round (23rd overall) pick by the Rockies in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of UCLA.  He has played two seasons in the Rockies system, reaching High A.  He has 71 hits, 19 home runs and a .236 batting average.

I mailed to Toglia on January 27 and got the cards back on February 24, for a 28-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jake Guenther

Here is a nice 2019 Bowman Draft of Jake Guenther that I was able to get signed TTM.  The card came out great.

Guenther (b. 1997) was a 7th round pick by the Rays in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Texas Christian University.  He Played for the Princeton Rays in the Appalachian League in 2019 where he had 56 hits, 2 home runs and a .320 batting average.

I mailed to Guenther on August 27 and got the card back on January 9, for a 135-day TAT.

TTM Success - Noah Song

Here are a couple really nice cards that I was able to get signed by Red Sox prospect, Noah Song.  I had his cards sitting in my box for a while, but I refrained from sending because I knew he was set to go off to Basic Training as part of his commitment to the US Navy.  So, I instead waited until December and sent the cards out.  I wanted to make sure they didn't sit around at his house for a long time, especially since I didn't want to lose the above purple refractor.

I also got this 2020 Pro Debut signed by Song.  It turned out great, as did my purple Chrome, of course.

Song (b. 1997) was a 4th round pick by the Red Sox in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of the Naval Academy.  He played in 7 games for Low A Lowell and went 0-0 with 19 strike outs and a 1.06 ERA.

I mailed to Song on December 4 and got the cards back on January 5, for a 32-day TAT.

Mystery TTM - Joseph Ortiz

My good friend Gerard got another mystery TTM sent to me, this time it was a 2019 Bowman Draft Joseph Ortiz.

Ortiz (b. 1998) was a 4th round pick in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of New Mexico State University. He played at Low A Aberdeen in 2019. He had 47 hits, 1 home run and a .241 batting average. 

Thanks for the latest mystery TTM, Gerard!

TTM Success - Tyler Fitzgerald

More and more Bowmans have come back TTM, which has been nice, since I have a ton of them to send.  This Tyler Fitzgerald 2019 Bowman Draft bubbled the signature just a bit, but the card still looks ok.

Fitzgerald (b. 1997) was a 4th round pick by the Giants in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Louisville.  He played at three levels in the Giants system in 2019 (Rookie League, Low A and A ball) and had 51 hits, 1 home run and a .276 batting average.

I mailed to Fitzgerald on November 17 and got the card back on December 3, for a 16-day TAT.

TTM Success - Seth Johnson

I got a couple nice cards back from Seth Johnson.  Johnson signed two recent cards; a 2020 Topps Pro Debut and a 2019 Bowman Draft.

Johnson (b. 1998) is from Concord, NC, and went to school at Campbell University in Buies Creek; where the Buies Creek Astros used to play before moving to Fayetteville and becoming the Woodpeckers.  He was a first round pick (40th over all) by the Rays in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Campbell.

In 2019, Johnson played at Rookie Level GCL Rays and Princeton Rays.  He went 0-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 16 strike outs.

I mailed to Johnson on August 5 and got the cards back on November 9, for a 96-day TAT.  He also included a signed note.

TTM Success - Spencer Brickhouse

I was able to get a couple cards from 2019 Bowman Draft signed when I got these back from Spencer Brickhouse via TTM.  The 2019 Bowman Draft and 2019 Bowman Draft Chrome both turned out really well.

Brickhouse (b. 1998) was a 7th round draft pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of ECU.  He played 60 games in Missoula last year and had 61 hits, 6 home runs and a .272 batting average.

I mailed to Brickhouse on June 3 and got the cards back on September 5, for a 94-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jake Sanford

I got a couple nice 2019 Bowman Draft cards signed through this TTM from Jake Sanford.  The above light blue refractor isn't numbered, but that's ok.  I like getting the different colored parallels signed, and this one turned out great.

I also got the base card signed.  Sanford doesn't have much of a signature, but the cards still look great.

Sanford (b. 1997) was a 3rd round pick in the 2019 June Amateur Draft.  He played in 60 games for Low A State Island last season, and had 55 hits, 7 home runs and a .238 batting average.

I mailed to Sanford on June 10 and got the cards back on August 15, for a 66-day TAT.