May 9, 2026, Graphing of Express at Bulls

We were looking forward to Round Rock coming through Durham since the schedule was announced toward the end of the season last year. The graphing was pretty good, but it didn't live up to the hype we had built up. This was mainly because there weren't as many former Wood Ducks as we had hoped. The ones that were there didn't really recognize us, so that was a bit of a bummer.

I got a couple Hickory team set cards signed. This team set was from 2022, so i had been holding onto the Marc Church and Trevor Hauver cards for a while. 

I was the only one of the graohers there on Saturday who got Ryan Brasier. I got him by the bullpen once the game ended. He wouldn't stop for the rest of us outside.

I chipped away at my stack of Nick Prattos that I had pulled a while back. I was glad to pull a bunch of Mason Thompson cards; the 2016 Bowman Draft came from one of the boxes I got in Richmond this winter. I was also surprised that Aaron Zavala signed more than one per. He always was a strict one per back in the day. I was able to get everything I had left of him done, finally.

The Durham team set is already out. That feels really early in the season. I chipped away at sets for Gerard and I. The set looks nice, but was a disorganized mess. I soebt a coupke innings alphabetizing and organizing it into my book.

I got a bunch of the team set taken care of. I'll have to keep working on them through the next couple of times in Durham.

In all, Jesse and I got the following autographs: Dairon Blanco x 3, Ryan Brasier x 2, Jonah Bride x 1, Diego Castillo x 1, Cam Cauley x 2, Marc Church x 1, Trevor Hauver x 4, Michael Helman x 1, Jose Herrera x 1, Richie Martin x 1, Nick Pratto x 9, Trey Supak x 2, Emiliano Teodo x 1, Mason Thompson x 7, Aaron Zavala x 5, Cam Booser x 2, Cooper Bowman x 2, Homer Bush Jr x 5, Carlos Colmenarez x 5, Alex Cook x 2, Luis Guerrero x 2, KC Hunt x 2, Ty Johnson x 2, Dominic Keegan x 1, Cooper Kinney x 4, German Melendez x 2, Brian Reith x 2, Chrystal Rowe x 2, Blake Sabol x 3 and Logan Workman x 2 (79 total autographs).

TTM Success - Evan Scribner

A nice 2013 Topps came back signed by Evan Scribner recently. He signed the card in black Sharpie, and it looks pretty nice. I like the yellow A's jersey that he has on.

Scribner (b. 1985) played in the majors from 2011 to 2017 for the Padres, A's and Mariners. He had a record of 5-4 with 155 strike outs and a 4.15 ERA.

I mailed to Scribner on January 22, 2025, and got the card back on February 4, 2026, for a 378-day TAT.

TTM Success - John Hiller

Some older Topps cards came in signed TTM from John Hiller. This nice 1977 Topps was one of them. Love the empty stadium shots, haha.

He also signed a 1978 and a 1980 Topps. All of the cards look great.

Hiller (b. 1943) played in the majors from 1965 to 1970 and 1972 to 1980 for the Tigers. He had a record of 87-76 with 1,036 strike outs and a 2.83 ERA. He was an All Star in 1974. His best MVP and Cy Young finishes were 4th for both in 1973. He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1968. He appeared on the 1986 Hall of Fame ballot and received 2.6% of the vote.

I mailed to Hiller on January 10 and got the cards back on January 30, for a 20-day TAT. I paid his fee of $5/card.

TTM Success - Curtis Granderson

His marker was less than stellar, but I was still happy to get this 2016 Topps negative parallel signed TTM by Curtis Granderson. He is signing through his education fund in Chicago. 

Granderson (b. 1981) played in the majors from 2004 to 2019 for the Tigers, Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Brewers and Marlins. He had 1,800 hits, 344 home runs and a .249 batting average. He three-time All Star (2009, 2011 and 2012). His best MVP finish was 4th in 2011 (AL). He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2025 where he received 0.8% of the vote. 

I mailed to him on January 5 and got the card back on January 30, for a 25-day TAT. I paid his fee of $50.00.

A Fourth TTM Success From Jay Bell

Four TTM requests may seem like a lot, but Jay Bell has a ton of cards and signs pretty frequently. I had sent to him in 2016, 2019 and 2023, so  I figured enough time had passed to send a few more. The above 1993 Upper Deck was the card that got my attention to send to him again.

I also cleared out some room in my boxes by pulling the above 1992 Triple Play, 1996 Collectors Choice, 1998 Bowman and 2001 Topps.

I'm pretty sure I'm out of his cards now, so I'm probably done sending to him. Bell or Bobby Richardson may be the two guys I've sent to the most. I'll have to look into that at some point. 

I mailed to Bell on December 22 and got the cards back on January 30, for a 39-day TAT.

Mystery TTM From Gerard - Luke Lacourse

Back in 2020, when we were in the dark times, Gerard and I added autographs to each other's collections by sending mystery TTMs out to be returned to each other. We let that pass once games resumed, but recently, Gerard sent off one to a 2025 Bowman Draft guy so I wouldn't have to dig his cards up. Not too long after, I got several cards back signed by Luke Lacourse.

Lacourse (b. 2006) was a 6th round pick by the Angels in the 2025 July Amateur Draft out of Bay City Western High School in Michigan. He has yet to make his professional debut. 

Thanks for sending out some cards for me, Gerard!

More 2025 50-50s and 2026 Cubs Convention Autos From Max

My buddy Max took another box of cards from me and converted a lot of them into signed cards I could add to my autograph album. One highlight was the above Topps Archives signed by Fergie Jenkins. This is a great card. There aren't enough modern sets using the 1957 Topps design. I wish they had done a Heritage Minors set with this design.

Here are cards sigbed by Cody Acshe, Quentin Berry, Trevor Cahill, Travis Chapman, Garrett Cooper, Noah Davis, Ryan Dempster and Jim Deshaies. I thought I had these Topps cards signed by Cahill and Dempster, but I didn't, so that was nice.

These are signed by Kyle Freeland, Jason Hammel, Mike Harkey, Starling Heredia and Jaden Hill. I had sent my Hill cards to someone for a 50/50 a while back, and everything came back signed, except for a Chrome, so that puts it in the album. I was alsi happy to see a 2015 Topps Jason Hammel (middle) and it looks great.

Here are Alex Jacob, Reed Johnson, John Lannan, Ted Lilly, German Marquez, Jack Neely. Those Neelys add some 2025 Topps to the album. I thought I had gotten John Lannan before, but I suppose I was wrong because I was unable to find any.

Now we see Riley Martin, Colin Rea, Mike Remlinger, Ethan Roberts, Jackson Rutledge and Matt Szczur. I sent every Szczur card I ever owned to Max at various points in time. It was nice to get one back signed for the album. Szczur is one of Max's all-time favorite guys, so I know it was tough to part with. He knows it went to a good home.

Here are Anthony Senzatella, Ryan Sweeney, Ezequiel Tovar and James Triantos. A 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Sweeney at the bottom left really pops. Also that blue 2007 Bowman right beside it looks awesome.

Here are Victor Vodnik, Randy Wells and Jaxon Wiggins. I saw that I had a few more Wiggins in my box, so I'll have to send a few more his way to refill his stock.

Reed Johnson, Shawon Dunston, Hoby Milner, Drew Romo and Jim Palmer are in this bunch. That 1992 Topps Gold Dunston is pretty great. It would have been cool to have been able to get Don Sutton on the card with Palmer, but it was not meant to be.

Finally here are Cubs team cards signed by Justin Grimm and Gavin Hollowell.  

Thank you so much, as always, Max. I'm sorry it took me so long to get these scanned. I have another smaller stack he sent afterward that need to be scanned. I hope to knock those out soon.