Great Time Graphing The Tides At Bulls

With the Wood Ducks out of town this week and the countdown to Wander Day fast approaching (we all know Wander Franco will be called up soon), I decided to make a trip to Durham and try to graph the Bulls this weekend.  I also used it as an opportunity to break my friend, Tyler, in to IP graphing.  He had never done it before, but has shown interest, so I helped him pick out an autograph book and got him started on his way.  What better way to get him started, than to try to pursue the #1 prospect in baseball, Wander Franco.

Tyler, Chris and I were met in Durham by my awesome friends, Jackson and Dugan.  Dugan had this Franco Midwest League all star card that he got signed for me last week, so I figured, even if we didn't get Franco, I could leave there with a Franco auto.

Obviously, we ended up getting Franco.  I was able to get him inside the stadium as he was about to warm up; he had bypassed us outside upon arrival saying he had a meeting.  Jackson convinced me to get my card signed with the copper Sharpie that I brought, and it really looks great on the gold card.  It is numbered to 50, so that was pretty cool, too.

Chris had the above triple card in his book, and got Kevin Padlo and Vidal Brujan on arrival.  We were afraid we would leave without Wander on that card, but a guy we had helped outside (he was new to graphing and didn't even have a pen with him to get his ball signed; so I let him borrow mine) was from the Dominican and took my card (and book) and ran Wander down to get his signed after Wander bypassed Chris again.  The guy saw me with the card and asked why Wander didn't sign, I said "I got him inside, it's cool." and he said no, took my book and ran after him talking to him in Spanish.  Turns out, they had talked about being from the Dominican, and Wander stopped and chatted with the guy again.  He turned out to be a super nice guy, and told us stories about baseball in his country as we waited for other players to come out.  I ended up letting him keep my pen.  It was the least I could do.

We got Vidal Brujan on quite a few cards.  I think he is going to be a really good player as well.  He's super fast and probably won't take long to get called up.

We didn't miss too many of the Durham players, which was great.  I was up til 2AM Saturday searching and prepping cards and graphing books.  I was able to get a bunch of cards out and prepped, so I was really glad with the results.

I even got a Wool E Bull card signed while at the game, which was pretty cool.  Apparently, folks go wild over some of these mascot cards, but this one will stay in my album.  I got a couple Drew Strotman cards from Jackson, which helped me out.  I wasn't able to find any of him for some reason.  Brent Honeywell was one per, but the cards he signed turned out great.  Jackson and Dugan hadn't been able to get Luis Patino all week, but luckily, we got him on Saturday; he has an awesome signature.

The Joe Odom card came from Dugan, which was nice.  I wouldn't have had anything of him.  Ryan Boldt was one of the tougher guys for me to get (aside from Wander) because no one could recognize him.  We got my one card done, though.

I got David Hess inside after the game, and spoke to him a bit.  He was super nice, and the cards turned out great.  Deivy Grullon was the first guy to stop for us outside, and I was so happy to get the 2020 Panini Score Select signed, since I had to search boxes while watching Cobra Kai Friday night.  Those cards turned out great.

We were able to get a few Norfolk guys on arrival after we got the Bulls that we needed.  Several of the Tides players signed for us, even after a trainer came out of the clubhouse and told us the players couldn't sign due to COVID.  Thomas Eschelman was the only player who refused us due to these restrictions.

I was really excited to get Yusniel Diaz at the game, because I hadn't seen him before.  I recognized him, which was a surprise, and he signed one card for each of us.

Jackson and Dugan had dipped into my stash of extras when we learned that it was, in fact, Diaz, and they helped me out with the extras.

On a whim, I added this 2019 Allen & Ginter gold of Vincent Stio to my snap case and brought it with me.  I knew he lived in NC and went to a lot of games in the area, but was primarily as fixture at Mudcats games.  He's an aspiring umpire, and will dress as one and attend minor league games across the state.  He mimics the umpires movements and has been brought onto the field several times.  I found this card in one of my card shop boxes and knew I'd run into him somewhere.  This was an awesome example of being super prepared.  Chris and I were getting into the line for the all you can eat buffet, and Chris noticed Vincent.  So, I was able to graph a kid younger than my son as a minor league game.  At least he and his dad were cool about it.

My good eye also spotted Ryan Ripken as he was entering the Tides clubhouse, and I had a short conversation with him.  It was regarding a card that I had brought with me that has become a small project of mine.  I plan to finish the card off with a couple of Ryan's relatives, but he signed it for me and enjoyed seeing it.  He is such a great guy, and I was glad to see him again.

So, we had an awesome time at the game and enjoyed the company of my son and friends.  In all we got 65 autographs:

Wander Franco x 2, Vidal Brujan x 13, Kevin Padlo x 3, Ryan Boldt x 1, Adam Conley x 3, Chris Ellis x 5, Deivy Grullon x 6, David Hess x 4, Joseph Odom x 1, Wool E Bull x 1, Josh Lowe x 3, Brent Honeywell x 3, Wyatt Mathisen x 2, Luis Patino x 4, Drew Strotman x 2, Vincent Stio x 1, Brett Cumberland x 1, Yusniel DIaz x 5, Zac Lowher x 2, Ryan Ripken x 1 and Willy Yahn x 2.

TTM Success - Scott Oberg

Here are a couple 2019 Topps Update cards that I got signed TTM from Scott Oberg.  Both turned out great, with the bottom one being a rainbow foil parallel.

Oberg (b. 1990) played in the majors from 2015 to 2019 for the Rockies.  He had a career record of 18-8 with 234 strike outs and a 3.85 ERA.

I mailed to Oberg on February 4 and got the cards back on February 16, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kyle Survance Jr.

The 2016 Bowman design is one that I enjoy getting signed, and this TTM success from Kyle Survance, Jr. was a nice one.  The cards have to be prepped, but they tend to look really nice when signed.

Survance (b. 1993) was an 8th round pick by the Angels in the 2015 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Houston.  He played in the Angels system in 2015, 2017 and 2019, reaching high A ball.  He had 132 hits, 1 home run and a .231 batting average.

I mailed to Survance on February 5 and got the card back on February 16, for an 11-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Jon Lieber

Back in 2017, I received a TTM success from Jon Lieber.  In the meantime, I have acquired a bunch more boxes of cards and came across several nice Liebers that I wanted to send to him.  So, I decided it was a good time to send out another request, and these signed cards are the results.

The 1995 Topps Finest shown above was one of the cards that I absolutely wanted to see come back.  I obviously had removed the protective UV film that used to come on the card, and it turned out great.

In the package, I also sent a 2002 Fleer Focus, 2007 Topps Chrome, 1992 Stadium Club and a 1998 Stadium Club.

I mailed to Lieber on January 28 and got the cards back on February 13, for a 16-day TAT.

TTM Success - Cody Crowell

Another 2007 Bowman Chrome came out of my box and was put into my autograph album when I got this ne back from Cody Crowell.  He signed the card with a super huge marker, but it still counts, and went into the book.  He also wrote me a little note back, which was nice.

Crowell (b. 1985) was a 14th round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2007 June Amateur Draft out of Vanderbilt.  He played in the minors from 2007 to 2009 in the Blue Jays system, reaching High A ball.  He had a record of 16-5 with 154 strike outs and a 3.37 ERA.

I mailed to Crowell on January 27 and got the card back on February 12, for a 16-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Willie Hernandez

Recently, I saw that Willie Hernandez was signing TTM with a fee, so I decided to hold my breath and take a chance that I could get him on my 1987 Topps Tigers leaders card that had already been signed by Sparky Anderson.  I sweated it out a bit, but the card came back signed (and undamaged).  I was very happy with the results.

I also sent off this 1978 Topps card, just because, and it looks nice, also.

I mailed to Hernandez on January 28 and got the cards back on February 12, for a 15-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $10/card.

TTM Success - Nick Noonan

Here are some cards that I was able to get signed TTM recently from Nick Noonan.  I had seen Noonan when I was on one of my graphing trips with Chris, but didn't take any of his cards with me.  I was glad to get a couple of them signed, so it ended up working out.

I have a bunch of these 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus cards, and they look pretty nice when signed.

I also got a 2017 Topps signed by Noonan.

Noonan (b. 1989) played in the majors in 2013, 2015 and 2016 for the Giants and Padres.  He had 28 hits, 1 home run and a .193 batting average.

I mailed to Noonan on February 4 and got the cards back on February 12, for an 8-day TAT.