It was a tough series for me to graph, but I did have some success this past weekend getting a few more cards signed while the Salem Red Sox were in town.
I was very low on cards for both teams, but I was able to finish everything I had for Salem, including some 50./50s for my friend, Gerard. Also, Thad Ward was called up to Salem, so I was able to get three cards out of my box and have them signed while he was here. The above 2018 Bowman Chrome sparkle refractor was a last-minute find in my box yesterday before we left for the game. I don't know how I missed it beforehand, but I luckily found it and got it done.
Ward and Bryan Mata were both really nice, and signed everything that Chris and I had. I had several Matas left from my 50/50 with Gerard, but all I had of Ward were the three cards that I found in my box.
Mata has a nice, bold signature, and it shows up well on cards in blue. At 19, he is the youngest player on the Red Sox.
Marcus Wilson, on the other hand, has been in the minors since 2014, but has only reached AA, briefly. He was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Red Sox earlier this year. He played 19 games this season with he Red Sox AA team in Portland, Maine, and had a .161 batting average. Demoted to Salem at High A, he now has a .348 average with 7 home runs. He showed this weekend that he can mash High A pitching, but has yet to do so at a higher level. Probably bitter that he is back slumming it in the Carolina League, Wilson will sign only one card per series for autograph seekers. That's too bad, because he really put on a show. Maybe the stutter-step around the third base coach while doing his home run trot was a bit much; it seemed to rile up the Wood Ducks bench this weekend.
Wilson had called me out for getting a card signed on Thursday, and asking him to do another on Friday. I'm not worried about him, though. I drafted a couple other folks at the park to get the two additional cards that I wanted signed, and they helped me out by getting them done. Don't worry, I was beyond respectful, even though his attitude rubbed me the wrong way.
The Wood Ducks made some personnel changes, since this was the first game back from the All Star break. Moved up to Frisco are Leody Taveras and Jason Bahr. Jairo Beras is back in Kinston following a demotion from Frisco, and Curtis Terry has been promoted from Hickory.
Finally, my attention to details at the Wood Ducks games paid off. I had heard our friend, Billy, tell us that Bryan Harvey shows up at the games from time to time as a rover for the Rangers. I happened to look through a box of 1993 Flar on Wednesday for someone who will be at the National, and found a Harvey card. I put it in the book immediately, thinking it would be a good idea to have it ready. That was good timing, since he was there on Thursday. I got that card signed, then had enough time this weekend to find a few more cards.
The Wood Ducks are out of town until July 1, then they will play a series against the Winston-Salem Dash. I need to load up on some more cards so that I am ready for the series.
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