The 2021 Down East Wood Ducks season was a special one. That team was amazing, and Chris and I followed the team to the championship series in Charleston. That was the season where I also found a connection with one of their players, Cody Freeman. Cody was always the first player out of the clubhouse that season, and would always walk up to us before each game and ask us how we were doing. The second game of the season, he walked over and asked if we would be coming to every game; he had seen us the day before at the first game. We said yes, and he introduced himself.
Months later, Cody spotted me in the Greenville airport as I was on my way to the National. He was on his way to rehab an injury in Arizona. He sat beside me in the airplane to Charlotte (ugh those masks!) and we bonded. Cody was and is such an awesome guy. Today, as I was eating dinner and watching a movie, I got a text from Jesse telling me that Cody had been called up to the Show! I have been waiting for this day since 2021. Cody is MY GUY and I can say that I have followed his career since Low A.
He got the call to the Show. I'm not crying, you're crying. I am so happy to see him make it. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I am really proud to be a fan! Go get em, Cody!!!!
This past Sunday, I finally got around to visiting Hickory. It was great being able to see Cody Freeman again. My friend, Jessie, gave me the above team set card to get signed. It is always nice when someone is excited to see you, and it seemed like Chris and I made Cody's day.
I was able to get three of the Wood Ducks cards signed of guys who moved up after the set was photographed.
We were told by some other graphers pre-game that Alejandro Osuna hadn't touched a pen all season and Maximo Acosta wouldn't sign for us. Both recognized us and stopped to sign, which was cool to see them prove those guys wrong.
The Crawdads were playing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, and I was able to get a bunch of Rays stuff out of my minors box. Brock Jones was really nice and signed everything we had.
Dru Baker, Carson Williams and Willy Vazquez were all one per. I was also able to get Tony Locey on a 2019 Bowman Draft. I had sent to him TTM but never got the cards back. I wish the orange refractor I had sent him had at least come back RTS because I'd have loved to have gotten it signed.
Chris and I did really well and got most of everything signed that we brought with us.
In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Dane Acker x 2, Cody Freeman x 1, Tucker Mitchell x 6, Jackson Kelley x 4, Abi Ortiz x 6, Alejandro Osuna x 4, Dru Baker x 2, JJ Goss x 2, Brock Jones x 11, Tony Locey x 1, Nick Schnell x 1, Willy Vasquez x 1 and Carson Williams x 2 (45 total autographs).
My longtime close friend, Andrew, really helped me out recently when he made one of his weekend trips to Evansville, Indiana. He attended a show there to get my 1987 Topps All Star Don Mattingly signed. This was the last of three Mattinglys that I needed for the set, and this show came in at a price about half of what Mattingly normally charges.
I had also seen that White Sox prospect, Colson Montgomery, would be at the show, so I sent off the above 2022 Bowman Invicta that I had bought early last season, but missed him. This card turned out awesome, and will look great in my album.
Finally, Andrew sent along a Christmas gift that he had found for me, a 2019 Leaf Trinity numbered 3/15 of Cody Freeman. I love this card!
Another birthday has come and gone. This one wasn't very eventful, which is what I wanted. I took the day (was a Wednesday) and then the following Thursday and Friday off. I was going to try to travel to a game, but ended up staying around the house since we were down a car. I used the time to organize my card room a little better and also to scan a bunch of cards (hence all of the posts).
Meanwhile, I got a couple birthday packages in; this one is from my buddy, Gerard.
Gerard sent me some autographs of current and former Wood Ducks. Those have been put away for now. At some point, I want to put an album together of those kinds of cards, but in the meantime, they are in a box labeled "Wood Ducks". I'll probably buy an album and box of pages specifically for certified autos of current and former Wood Ducks and just fill it randomly as cards come in. That's an idea, at least.
Gerard also sent me these cool graded proof cards of Cody Freeman for the PC. I think these are really awesome, and are pretty unique for me.
Thank you so much for the gifts, Gerard. I really appreciate it.
Following what was a tough week-plus, I finally got some graphing in. We had a death in the family the week prior, then we had to put our dog, Rocky, down last week. I wasn't really feeling graphing, but made myself go on Friday to Hickory while I was in the Winston area for my dad's annual race. The race was Saturday, so I had plenty of time Friday night to relax and get some ink on some cards. Chris was at my sister's house, so I flew solo, but actually made a friend while I was there. We'll see how that goes.
One of the bigger surprises for me on this trip was that Luisangel Acuna has completely opened up to signing, finally. He was the first player out of the clubhouse, and signed everything I had on the page. I was impressed, and happy to get the stuff that I had brought, done.
I knocked out several more Hickory team set cards. I have a different marker this time, and it stood up much better to the team set cards than my Staedtler did. I still have a bunch to do, but have gotten most of them out of the way; especially the tough guys like Acuna and Evan Carter.
I also knocked out most of what I had left for Aaron Zavala. Hickory had the SAL League Top Prospects set in, so I opened one and got Carter to sign the card of him in there.
Robby Ahlstrom was recently promoted to Hickory, so I was able to finish off the card I had left for him. This card scanned so awesome.
This 2019 Bowman Chrome Draft Progression card is going to be tough to finish, but I got Chris Seise on it, and maybe I can get the other two guys at some point.
Finally, I had only a handful of Greenville guys, and even fewer stopped to sign. I did get this 2021 Bowman Draft Tyler McDonough done, and it turned out nicely. I tried a few other guys, but wasn't successful. It didn't help that the players didn't have numbers on the front of their jerseys.
The Crawdads were wearing Thor themed jerseys, and I won Cody Freeman's (of course). It will be shipped to me signed, and looks pretty cool. I was glad to win another Cody jersey, and was even happier seeing him again.
In all, I got the following autographs: Luisangel Acuna x 6, Ben Amderson x 1, Robby Ahlstrom x 2, Evan Carter x 2, Carlos Cardoza x 2, Frainyer Chavez x 2, Randy Florentino x 2, Jon Goebel x 2, Spencer Mraz x 1, Keyber Rodriguez x 2, Thomas Saggese x 2, Chris Seise x 5, Ricky Vanasco x 2, Owen White x 3, Aaron Zavala x 3, Matthew Lugo x 1 and Tyler McDonough x 1 (39 total autographs).
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).
The minor league season is up and running, and I have already put my first road trip to bed for the season. I picked up my friend, Alex, in Richmond last Friday night, and we stayed at my parents' farm Friday night and Saturday night with the intention of checking out the Hickory Crawdads at Winston-Salem Dash.
I used the opportunity to visit family, as well, since I have a new niece. Poor Alex got a crash course in just how large my family is. I was also happy that Hickory was in Winston, since most of the Wood Ducks from last season moved up to Hickory. We sat on the Hickory side both games, and reconnected with a bunch of the guys, like Cody Freeman, Nick Krauth, Mason Englert and Owen White. Carlos Cardoza, manager of last year's Woodies, is now managing the Crawdads, and noticed me when he was coaching third about halfway into Saturday's game. He came over after the game to chat and thank me for coming out. My sister and her husband also came to the Saturday game, and were able to meet Cody and some of the other guys.
I was told by one of the players that I had missed Luisangel Acuna; he had injured his hamstring during the Friday game and had been sent back to Arizona. Luckily, Acuna hadn't actually left yet, and I was able to get him to sign the above cards on Sunday after the game.
I was really excited to finally get some Chris Siese cards signed, since he never made it to Kinston. He had been hurt much of the last several seasons, and when the leagues flip flopped, I knew it would be tough to get him.
I had even tried to get Siese TTM, but those cards were returned to sender. They ended up getting signed, though. I made sure those were the first cards in the auto book since they had so many miles on them already.
TK Roby wasn't at the Wood Ducks for long last season, and left before I could get the above Panini Prizm cards signed. I found the above 2020 Bowman First Edition blue foil at a show in the offseason and was happy to move it into the autograph album.
I had the 2020 Bowman and Panini Prizm Trevor Hauver cards left over from missing him last season when I traveled to Hickory. They got out of the Box of Shame and finally got signed. I didn't realize I had any Scott Kapers until I was looking for someone else in my Spokane team sets, so I bought his Perfect Game card in a lot of 3. My friend, Gerard, ended up getting one of them, and I'll use the other as trade bait, probably. I didn't have any cards of Aaron Zavala until after last season was over, so it was nice to finally add him on a few cards.
Since Hickory is so tough to get pitchers at home, I was really glad that I could add some of the team set guys to the album. I had help from Nick Krauth, who sent Joe Corbett and Spencer Mraz over to sign for me. Nick is such a good guy. I wish he had cards. I got Owen White on the one different card that I didn't have during the season, the Bowman Platinum. I also got Chris's signed, even though Owen had told Chris over social media that Chris could send to him TTM any time. Chris and Owen have gotten close, and talk quite a bit. Owen was disappointed that Chris had to work that weekend, bur I promised that we would come out to Hickory in June and see everyone.
Because I wanted to spend time on the Hickory side, I didn't bring much for the Winston-Salem guys. I had James Beard cards in the book, but he had gotten sent to Kannapolis; and we missed Matt Thompson. Thankfully, I was able to finally add Danny Farquhar and Nicky Delmonico. My friend, Max, had gotten a couple Delmonicos signed for me a while back. I had missed Farquhar last season, and misplaced a 2014 Topps Red Hot foil, which I found this past week when I wasn't looking for it. Story of my life.
Most importantly, my friend, Alex, enjoyed his first minor league game away from the Richmond Flying Squirrels. He enjoyed seeing Winston-Salem, and if he was bored meeting the family, he didn't show it.
In all, Alex and I got two signed baseballs from Cody Freeman, along with all of the signed cards: Ben Anderson x 5, Joe Corbett x 6, Trevor Hauver x 5, Scott Kapers x 4, Spencer Mraz x 5, TK Roby x 5, Chris Siese x 12, Josh Smith x 7, Owen White x 5, Aaron Zavala x 7 Luisangel Acuna x 4, Evan Carter x 6, Chris Siese x 12, Nicky Delmomico x 9 and Danny Farquhar x 3 (94 autographs).
I had a great time, and it was even better because I could see some of the players who we saw last season and had gotten close to. I wish Chris could have gone to the games, but he will have more time this summer when tennis is over. Stay tuned to see the rest of the graphing I did this past week.
Cody Freeman, much like Nolan Reimold, is going to be one of those players who, if I see a card, whether I have it or not, I'm going to pick it up. My good friend, Gerard, added 6 cards to my small Cody Freeman PC with this awesome Christmas gift.
Cody doesn't have many cards out just yet, but the stuff that is out there looks really awesome. He was in 2019 Leaf products, and there are quite a few autographs in there. These cards look awesome, and I am really happy that Gerard hooked me up with them.
This printing plate came in separately. Cody has a great signature, and one of the cards that I picked up for myself actually has a very early version before he perfected it to what it is on this card. He even pointed it out to me when I showed him what I had picked up.
Cody is a great guy, and messages me here and there. He was excited to see that one of my friends was looking out for me with his cards, which was really cool.
While the feelings are still raw, I thought it would be a good time to put down on paper (so to speak) my thoughts on the 2021 Down East Wood Ducks season. First, a look at the just-completed Low A East Championship Series against Charleston, followed by my thoughts on this squad.
The Wood Ducks got into the Championship Series on the last day of the regular MiLB season after going 4-2 against Charleston and Salem losing to Delmarva Sunday evening. The Woodies had to sit and wait as the Salem-Delmarva game played out before they knew whether or not they would be advancing to play... Charleston for a best-of-five series.
The Wood Ducks lost the first two games of the series at home, but Chris and I were able to get to both games, and enjoyed seeing our guys. We hoped that the guys would be able to play til at least Saturday, when I would be able to be off of work and maybe make a trip to Charleston.
With there being uncertainty, we made sure to say our goodbyes to the players that we have met this season. Not because we didn't have faith that they wouldn't be playing on at least Saturday, but because it wasn't a guarantee that I'd get to Charleston. You never know, so we wanted to let the guys know how proud we were of them, and thank them for all of the memories they gave Chris and I this season. He has interacted with this team more than any other Wood Ducks team that has come through here since 2017 (me too, but Chris really bonded with a lot of the guys). Thomas Saggese came up maybe a month into the season, but always made time to stop and chat with us.
I could tell that Jose Acosta really enjoyed fist bumping Chris before every game.
Chris really enjoyed Nick Lockhart; Nick would chat with Chris at the clubhouse door as Chris would sit on the bleachers right by the door. They bonded over food, and my ability to pay for hot dogs, apparently. Nick gave me a big hug after the last game of the Championship Series and thanked me for everything.
Cody's my dude, but Chris loves him, too. The Wood Ducks did win on Friday, and we surprised the guys by jumping in the car Saturday morning and making the 5-hour trip to Charleston. I had never been to their stadium before, so it was a new one I could check off of the list. Cody was excited and surprised to see us, as was the rest of the team (ALL of them!).
Chris had me take a photo with Marc Church, since Church was another of the guys who he would talk to as the relievers went in and out of the clubhouse.
Chris loves Jackson. There was a decent contingent of Wood Duck supporters at the series in Charleston. There were a few other season ticket holders and almost all of the staff who were able to make the trip down and support the guys.
The only negative thing I can say about the time in Charleston, other than the final outcome, was how rude the Riverdogs fans were. I've never been a huge fan of heckling as it is (except for chanting Joba, Joba, Joba during the 2014 ALDS Game 2), but some of the fans were out of line. Chris told me later that there was one guy talking smack to Brady Smith (above, with Chris). I'm surprised that Chris didn't say something smart back to them. Or maybe he did and just hasn't told me.
The Wood Ducks won Saturday night, and forced a Game 5, which was to be played at 5PM. There was no way that I was going to just up and go home, so when the Woodies sealed the win on Saturday, I went ahead and bought the tickets for Sunday and planned for a very long day. I slept in as long as I could, but still was wide awake at 8:30am. We got up and checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Battery in Charleston.
Chris and I spent a lot of time walking around Charleston and enjoying the sites. I have a photo of me somewhere from 20+ years prior in this very spot when my friend, Todd, first took me on a trip to Charleston. It was really cool being able to recreate the photo with my son.
I'm looking a bit rough, but did take one photo of myself on the trip. All of the other pictures I took were of Chris and the ballplayers. Sorry, Mom.
Sunday's game was upon us, and we made sure the guys knew we were there to support them. Chris and I genuinely felt like we were a part of this, which was a really cool feeling.
It was really awesome watching the guys get hyped up prior to the game. I get goosebumps when I watch it and plan to, any time I want to get fired up. You can tell by watching the two videos that I attached that this team was very close. It has been evident to Chris and I for a while, now, and like I said before, he and I felt like we were a small part of it, as well. More than we had felt with any other team that came through here. That's not to take anything away from those teams, but this one was really something special.
After the Wood Ducks lost Game 5 to a score of 5-2, Chris met up with me by the wall near the dugout as we said goodbye to some of the guys. He probably wouldn't admit that he teared up, but I'll admit that I did.
The COVID-19 pandemic gypped me out of a season last year, and more importantly, it gypped me out of doing something that I love with my son during a crucial time in his life. He will be 16 in November, and will be learning to drive, getting a car, and obviously a job. There's going to come a time when he is going to be off doing his own thing, and not going to games with me. I saw somewhere "At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play together for the last time and nobody knew it..." That kind of rings true here, too. Especially when I read more and more on Facebook or wherever of guys I hung out with as a kid who are no longer with us. The pandemic took a lot of things away from folks, and precious time with Chris was one of the things I realized quickly that it had stolen from me. I was really glad we took the time to just hang out in Charleston, eat some wings, have some ice cream, and watch a couple of baseball games featuring guys that we have become legitimate friends with. It was a great trip to cap off an amazing season.
When the season began on May 11 (above), I wasn't sure it would come to completion without any stoppages due to the virus, or some other craziness. We were able to do some graphing very early on, even though the team was under restriction.
This crowd on May 15 came out to support the Wood Ducks. I just wish they had more time to prepare for the two Championship Series games at home and had drawn a better crowd.
The team at the end of the season was a good bit different than the one that started the year. A few of the guys were promoted to High-A Hickory, but a bunch of them were injured and missed the bulk of the season. I imagine a lot of those guys will be back to stat next season, but even that isn't guaranteed.
The guys that have been here, though, recognized Chris and I pretty early on in our regular spots. We formed a lot of friendships along the way. This was the first time I have ever exchanged phone numbers with actual players before... and the ones who did, asked for my number first.
Chris picked out Mason Englert prior to the first game of the season as his guy who he would "follow" all season. I'd say it worked out. Funny thing, after the game on Sunday, Mason said "I know you guys are going to follow me when I move on to Hickory... oh wait, I didn't mean that to be weird..." I assured him, Chris had yelled out "I love you Mason; sorry if that's weird..." across a parking lot, we knew when things got weird. He laughed and gave us both big hugs.
Chris still hasn't washed this jersey. He also wore it to the 3 of the 4 games of the Championship Series.
I've only yelled out across an open area "I love you" to one baseball player before this season, and that was to Brooks Robinson at the Hall of Fame. I also had only one player ever yell back "I love you, too!" (Brooks, of course) before this season. Cody Freeman gave me a big hug as he was leaving Sunday (and a few other times, as we thought we were saying goodbye last Sunday, and then Wednesday, and then Sunday as they were coming off the field... cut me some slack, he's a great guy), and told me how much he loved us and how much our support this season meant to him. I also had a message this morning on my Instagram from him asking if we got home safely. Things like that mean a lot to me. He also gave me his cleats, which are orange and black (Orio... I mean, Wood Ducks colors...) and are pretty awesome.
Even Luisangel Acuna was happy to see us when we were in Charleston. I wish I could have spoken to him better, but my high school Spanish that I learned 20+ is pretty bad. He smiled when he saw us, and fist bumped us as he was leaving the stadium, so hopefully he thinks we are cool.
I think we said goodbye to Mason 17 times, and he got 37 hugs from Chris or some number like that. Hopefully we will see him in Hickory next season before he moves us to Frisco.
Nick Krauth would stop and talk to us all season, long before we even knew who he was. He's really funny, and has been awesome to us all season.
I kept waiting for Owen White to say "Alright, alright, alright", as he sounds a lot like Matthew McConaughey. He would just lean against the fence and chat with Chris. It is really cool that he is from North Carolina, too. He was really solid down the stretch, once he came back from his hand injury, and probably won't be at Hickory for long before the Rangers move him to AA.
Gavin Collyer cracked me up more often than not, and really became one of our closest friends on the team. He even got a team ball signed for me, which he gave to me on Wednesday. I'm so glad he did, because it will commemorate what turned out to be such a memorable season for Chris and I. I hope we can see these guys again, but as it is in the minors, your hope is that once the guys move up, they don't come back. There are a lot of guys on this roster who I think will be in the majors some day.
Thanks for the memories, guys, Chris and I do love you. Go Wood Ducks.
