June 20, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

On Saturday, Jesse and I made the trip to Durham to try and get a few more Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp out of my boxes. We also wanted to get more Durham Bulls done as well, but it was a tough night, since there weren't many people there graphing who knew the faces of players on either side.

Still, we did really well. We were able to get a couple guys on rehab, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. We also got Karson Milbrandt, who wasn't with Jacksonville the last time they came.

We missed most of the Durham guys we needed, but it was ok, we had a good time and will head back up there soon.

Something sweet happened to me, too. I was wearing my Alien Face hugger shirt that says "Free Hugs" that Mal got me a while back. A woman walked by us as we were graphing outside and saw it and said "I'm going to put your shirt to the test." Of course, I had forgotten what shirt I was even wearing, and as I realized "oh yeah, that shirt", she had pulled her little boy aside and told him to read it. He read it out loud "Free Hugs... oh!" and threw himself at me, much like my niece Ada does. It made my night. Little guy was probably her age, 4 or so. It was a pretty cool moment. All I could say was "Aww, thank you buddy".

In all, we got the following autographs: Griffin Conine x 2, Braxton Garrett x 5, Karson Milbrandt x 7, Gage Miller x 9, Graham Pauley x 3, Jared Serna x 11, Josh White x 1, Henry Bonilla x 2, Mason Englert x 1 and Cooper Kinney x 4 (45 total autographs).

TTM Success - John Harris

Here are a couple early 80s cards that came back signed TTM by John Harris. He signed my 1982 Topps (above) and 1981 Topps (below).

Harris (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1979 to 1981 for the Angels. He had 31 hits, 5 home runs and a .258 batting average.

I mailed to Harris on February 23 and got the cards back on March 5, for a 10-day TAT. 

June 9, 2026, Graphing of the Miners at Bird Dawgs

Last week, the Sussex County Miners were in town. While I went all week, it took me only one game to get all of the autographs I needed. I had bought some nice Mahki Backstrom cards for the series. He was on the IL when the series started, but made the trip anyway.

When we got Backstrom on Tuesday, he told us he was happy to be there because they were activating him for that game.

I also should now be out of Chris Widger cards. I found these three in the offseason and got them done on Tuesday.

I went Wednesday through Sunday and got nothing else signed. It was nice to relax and just enjoy the games. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Mahki Backstrom x 14 and Chris Widger x 3 (17 autographs).

TTM Success - Ryan Mullins

The above 2007 Bowman orange parallel of Ryan Mullins isn't the one I lulled years ago from a pack and hoped to get signed one day. That one kept popping up in my passes through my boxes, until i was ready to send it out. Now, who knows where it is. So, I got tired of hoping it would pop back up, and I bought one to send. The other still hasn't shown up though.

Mullins (b. 1983) was a 5th round pick by the Twins in the 2005 June Amateur Draft out of Vanderbilt. He played in the minors from 2005 to 2011, all in the Twins system, reaching AAA. He had a record of 41-50 with 655 strike outs and a 4.18 ERA.

I mailed to Mullins on February 20 and got the cards back on March 2, for a 10-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Brandon Compton

Even more 2025 Bowman Draft signed cards came in when these two came back from Brandon Compton.

Compton (b. 2003) was a 2nd round pick by the Marlins in the 2025 July Amateur Draft out of Arizona State. He has played in the Marlins system since last season, reaching High A. He has 61 hits, 11 home runs and a .223 batting average. 

I mailed to Compton on January 27 and got the cards back on February 28, for a 32-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Peter Kussow

Here is another 2025 Bowman Draft TTM success; this one being from Mets pitcher, Peter Kussow. The cards turned out great.

Kussow (b. 2006) was a 4th round pick by the Mets in the 2025 July Amateur Draft out of Arrowhead Union High School in Wisconsin. He has not yet made his professional debut. 

I mailed to Kussow on February 11 via Mets Spring Training and got the card back on February 27, for a 16-day TAT. 

I had heard that some prospects and draft picks were signing at Spring Training this season, so I gave a few a shot. It worked.

TTM Success - Alejandro Freire

Here is a Spring Training TTM success from this year. I had held onto these Alejandro Freire cards in my to-be-TTMed box for a while once I realized he was a good TTM signer through the Rays. He was among the first batch I sent out to Spring Training this year, and one of the few that came back.

I got a 2006 Upper Deck and a 2006 Topps Rookie 52 signed. He is a firmer Oriole I can add to the autograph album and cross off of the list of former Os.

Freire (b. 1974) played in the majors in 2005 for the Orioles. He had 16 hits, 1 home run and a .246 batting average. 

I mailed to Freire via Rays camp on February 9 and got the cards back on February 27, for an 18-day TAT.