May 2, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

Last night, Jesse and I headed back to Durham to catch the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. I prepped for the trip over the last couple of weeks. I even took a small box of the cards with me on a work trip to Minnesota and prepped cards in the hotel room.

The Jumbo Shrimp roster was loaded with guys with cards. We got almost everyone we could get, missing a couple guys, and not having cards for a couple others. 

It was really nice seeing Maximo Acosta again. He remembered me from the Wood Ducks and thanked me again for giving him some cards back then. Getting his 2026 Topps card signed was a good choice.

Kemp Alderman was pretty cool. He signed a bunch of our stuff. He joked that he had a $5 fee, but we laughed about it. I had heard that Jacob Berry was a tough get, but he came right over when we asked him. The 2024 Panini Crusade he signed turned out great.

Let's pause a minute to marvel in the awesome signature that Heriberto Hernandez gave us on our 2026 Topps Heritage cards. I could have saved him the trouble and did those myself. We'll, we got ink on the cards and they're in the album. So, his little scribble os what it is.

Deyvison De Los Santos hit a bunch of cards after we were told he hadn't signed much all week.

Jared Eickhoff was pretty cool. He signed for us outside. Joe Mack and Andrew Pintar were one per, but Pete and a kid took two of my Pintars and got them done for me.

Jared Serna was such a nice guy. He signed everything we had. He talked to us for a bit outside while he signed.

I was surprised that Robby Snelling signed everything we had. I was glad that a few of the Jumbo Shrimp guys finished everything I had. I plan to see them again when they come back through later in the season, but if I don't have much left, I may see where else I can go.

Thomas White also signed everything we had for him. I was glad to get his 2025 Pro Debut insert card signed (middle of the top row in the scan above).

We got a select few Durham guys outside. I finally saw Homer Bush, Jr. He has been on their roster for a bit but hasn't been in Durham.

 I saw today that Joe Mack was called up to the Marlins. That was really cool. The game was pretty good. Bradley Blalock struck out 12 in 6 innings, at one point he struck out 7 in a row.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Kemp Alderman x 6, Jesus Bastidas x 2, Jacob Berry x 2, Bradley Blalock x 2, Zach Brzykcy x 2, Jose Ceballos x 2, Deyvison De Los Santos x 12, Jerad Eickhoff x 3, Dax Fulton x 1, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Joe Mack x 2, Zach McCambley x 4, Cody Morissette x 3, Andrew Pintar x 4, Ethan O'Donnell x 2, Jared Serna x 11, Robby Snelling x 8, Luke Terwilliger x 3, Thomas White x 8, Cooper Bowman x 1, Homer Bush Jr x 4, Jonathan Heasley x 4, Trevor Martin x 1 and Blake Sabol x 4 (95 total autographs). 

TTM Success - Woody Woodward

This 1969 Topps of Woody Woodward was found at a card show in Richmond late last year. I saw he signed TTM, so I picked it up. I have never had much bulk 1969 Topps on hand, so i haven't sent a whole lot out (not like 1971 to present). The card turned out great and Woodward has an awesome signature. 

Woodward (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1963 to 1971 for the Braves (Milwaukee and Atlanta) and Reds. He had 517 hits, 1 home run and a .236 batting average. 

I mailed to Woodward on December 8 and got the card back on January 30, for a 53-day TAT.

TTM Success - Griffin Burkholder

Griffin Burkholder signed this 2025 Topps Pro Debut card TTM for me back in January. While I was looking for his cards to send out, i went through the 2025 Pro Debuts that I had put aside in a box, right after I busted several hobby boxes. I noticed a Burkholder parallel that I didn't realize that I had pulled. I looked closer at the card and saw 1/1. So, I busted something like three boxes, immediately put everything aside and didn't realize I had pulled a 1 of 1? Talk about embarrassing. Even more, when I wrote Burkholder for this TTM, I mentioned that I had his 1/1 and he could check out my Instagram if he wanted to see it. Crickets. Maybe he doesn't collect his own cards? Oh well, it's my first 1/1 in a long time and... it's put aside... for safe keeping. 

Burkholder (b. 2005) was a 2nd round pick by the Phillies in the 2024 July Amateur Draft out of Freedom High School in Virginia. He has played in the Phillies system since 2024, reaching A ball. He has 33 hits, 4 home runs and a .192 batting average. 

I mailed to Burkholder on January 10 and got the card back on January 28, for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Tony Fiore

A nice 2003 Topps came back signed TTM by Tony Fiore. I always enjoy the blue border of 2003 Topps. A white border is nice and all, but it's ok to have another color here and there. I got a broken set of these for free a while back at the former card shop, and have been pulling from it periodically. It's a nice set to add to the album from time to time.

Fiore (b. 1971) played in the majors from 2000 to 2003 for the Devil Rays and Twins. He had a record of 12-6, 94 strike outs and a 4.39 ERA.

I mailed to Fiore on January 9 and got the card back on January 28, for a 19-day TAT.  

Another TTM Success From Andy Van Slyke

Back in 2018, I got Andy Van Slyke to sign my 1987 Topps card TTM. Enough time had passed, so I sent to him again once I got a few nice cards together. The 2018 success was through a private signing. This time around, I sent to him directly. 

He signed the above 1992 Topps, which looks awesome. 

He also signed a 1987 Fleer Update (above, left), a 1995 Upper Deck (above, middle) and a 2023 Panini Prizm pink parallel (above, right). The 1995 Upper Deck adds an Orioles card to the collection. That's always a good thing.

I mailed to Van Slyke on January 3 and got the cards back on January 28, for a 25-day TAT. I paid a fee of $5.00/card.

TTM Success - Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart is a guy who I thought I had gotten before, but it turns out the signed card I got for my 1987 Topps set came from Max. So, when I saw a private signing for him, I pulled and sent this 1982 Topps rookie card. After I had signed up for the signing, I saw that Stewart was signing on his own for the same fee. The card turned out great. 

Stewart (b. 1957) played in the majors in 1978 and from 1981 to 1995 for the Dodgers, Rangers, Phillies, A's and Blue Jays. He had a record of 168-129 with 1,741 strike outs and a 3.95 ERA. He was an All Star in 1989. He won 20 or more games in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990. His best finish in the Cy Young Race was 2nd (1989, AL), and his best finish in the MVP race was 8th (1990, AL). He won the World Series with the Dodgers in 1981, A's in 1989 and Blue Jays in 1993. He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2001 and 2002, receiving at most, 7.4% of the vote.

I mailed to the signing on December 11 and got the card back on January 28, for a 48-day TAT. The card came from an old box of cards Mom found at Goodwill. 

TTM Success - Jason Kubel

Jason Kubel is a guy who I could have sworn that I had sent to TTM before. It turns out, I hadn't. I already had this post titled "Another TTM Success From Jason Kubel". When I was adding tags, I saw that his name didn't pop up. Hmm. Well, here we go. I added Kubel to the autograph album when these two cards came back signed. The above 2005 Flair Showcase is a relic from my days at the former card shop in Winston-Salem. I opened a bunch of these, but offloaded much of what I had at card shows back then.

I also got this 2012 Topps signed. It also turned out great.

Kubel (b. 1982) played in the majors in 2004 and from 2006 to 2014 for the Twins, Diamondbacks and Indians. He had 913 hits, 140 home runs and a .262 batting average. He finished 24th in the 2009 AL MVP voting.

I mailed to Kubel on December 5 and got the cards back on January 26, for a 52-day TAT.