A Couple Older 50-50s From Dylan

My desk is quite a mess. I had hoped to clean it off during the offseason, but I haven't been any less busy than I usually am in-season.  So, little by little, I am clearing things off and getting small stacks of cards scanned.  

I got a few cards back recently from a Spring Training 50/50 I sent out to my friend, Dylan.  Both of us have been busy and haven't talked with each othet like we had in the past.  No hard feelings or anything, just life getting in the way.  Dylan was finally able to get my cards back to me, and I was able to get them scanned and loaded into the autograph album. 

He took a few cards for Cardinals Spring Training this past season, and got the above 2024 Topps Heritage Mini of Jose Fermin and the below 2023 Topps and 2024 Topps Update Michael Siani cards signed.

The cards turned out great, and I appreciate Dylan getting them back to me.

I ended up seeing Siani last season in Durham, but had no cards left.  I probably should have held onto a few, but in the end, it doesn't matter. 

Thanks, Dylan,!

September 5-7, 2025, Graphing of the Sounds at Tides

This past weekend, I had a trip planned to Norfolk. Jesse couldn't make it, and Chris had to work.  I reached out to another friend who jumped at the chance to go.  My friend Aidan was the first person I reached out to, and he accepted right away.  I was surprised that I didn't have to beg.  

We planned to get to Norfolk Friday night while the game was going on; we ended up getting there early.  So, instead of scrambling to get into the game, we opted to check into the hotel and grab a nice dinner.  Afterward, we went back to the room to reset and figure out our books, then made our way to the ballpark.  I wanted to try to at least get inside and grab a couple Norfolk team sets so we would have them on hand for arrival Saturday morning.  They let me in, and I bought Aidan and I each a set.  We then made our way to Nashville's side and graphed outside postgame. 

Aidan and I got Rhys Hoskins outside (the Topps Cosmic Chrome, above left, is what Hoskins signed Friday.  I got him inside after  BP Saturday on the 2020 Topps Chrome pink refractor (middle) and the gold Topps Fire was signed outside on Sunday.

Luis Urias was a tough one per, but Aidan and I each got him Friday night.  Inside on Saturday, a father and son helped me out by taking two of my cards and got them signed. 

Aidan and I got every player that we set out to get.  We didn't miss anyone that was actually there, which was a great feeling.  Daz Cameron was really nice as usual, but seemed a bit down when he signed Friday night. He made us think he wasn't going to be in Norfolk much longer (we were like "oh man, is he getting released?").  Turned out, he was there all weekend and signed for us again on Saturday.  It was just a little odd. 

I was really excited to get the Brandon Lockridge parallel (middle of the above scan) signed.  I pulled that from a pack when I busted my 2025 Topps series 2 boxes at the National. 

Inside on Sunday, Aidan pointed Rick Sweet out when he got into the dugout.  It was Sweet's birthday, and came over to us when we called him over.  We wished him a happy birthday, and he signed our cards.  He made me promise that I wouldn't show the cards to Lockridge, who came over abd signed my last card of him after that.

Jeferson Quero turned out to be tough, but we did ride the elevator with him in the hotel Sunday morning.  We just told him good morning and wished him a good game.  We weren't going to bother him in the hotel, that's crossing the line for me.

This trip was my first opportunity to see and get Enrique Bradfield, Jr.  I hadn't seen him at any level of the Orioles system until this trip.  He was very nice and signed every card that I brought.

The goal of the trip was to try to finish off what I could of the Norfolk guys so I wouldn't have to go to crazy this week in trying to get them when they're in Durham.  I finished what I had of several players, but still have enough stuff to get a few more later this week.  I figure that a lot of these guys won't be there next season. 

I had some help Sunday morning by a kid outside who helped me get Cionel Perez on my Diamond King card (since he was one per and hit my 2019 Topps Saturday morning and my 2019 Donruss Sunday morning).

I finally got to get Reed Trimble.  He was another Orioles minor leaguer who i just kept missing.  He made a point of signing my dual with Colton Cowser Friday night.  I had been waiting since 2022 to finish that card.

I'm officially out of Terrin Vavra cards.  He wouldn't sign last season due to an exclusive deal.   That has ended, and he now signs.  I got everything that I had done.

I only got Levi Wells once, even though I had a bunch of his cards.  Everything else would be duplicates, so I wasn't really worried.

I said earlier that Perez was one per; He did two per Saturday night and reduced it to one on Sunday, which is why I needed help.  I've got him on an Orioles card, so that was nice.

Aidan and I made a good dent in the team set.  It's a nice looking set this season.  The cards don't need prep.

Aidan and I had a great time.  It was awesome that he was able to make the trip.  It's hard for me to make new friends at my age, and after this trip, I feel like I do have a new friend.  It's great having folks I can reach out to that are willing to take a little graphing road trip over a weekend.  I hope we can do more down the line.  Hopefully we can get some more folks into coming with us.  I've always said that graphing is no fun to do alone.  I'll go by myself at times, but if given a choice, I'd much rather someone tag along every time!

In all, I got the following autographs: Tonight's graphing recap of the Sounds at Tides: Steward Berroa x 2, Tyler Black x 14, Daz Cameron x 10, Tucker Davidson x 5, Robert Gasser x 2, Eric Haase x 3, Rhys Hoskins x 3, Brandon Lockridge x 3, Josh Maciejewski x 3, Easton McGee x 1, Julian Merryweather x 6, Chad Patrick x 3, Luis Urias x 4, Silas Ardoin x 5, Yaramil Hiraldo x 1, Reed Trimble x 8, Felipe Alou Jr x 1, Alan Rail x 1, Justin Ramsey x 1, Raynel Delgado x 1, Jeferson Quero x 1, Bruce Zimmermann x 3, Jordyn Adams x 3, TT Bowens x 1, Enrique Bradfield Jr x 15, Jud Fabian x 2, Tim Federowicz x 7, Jose Barerro (Garcia) x 2, Maverick Handley x 1, Hudson Haskin x 2, Vimael Machin x 1, Corbin Martin x 6, Mike Montville x 1, Cionel Perez x 4, Carson Ragsdale x 1, Jaxon Reetz x 5, Sam Sauer x 1, Livan Soto x 8, Terrin Vavra x 10, Levi Wells x 2, Cameron Weston x 1, Rick Sweet x 2 and Chayce McDermott x 1 (157 total autographs).

August 26, 2025, Graphing of the FerryHawks at Blue Crabs

With some PDOs to burn, I took time off on Tuesday to make a quick trip to Southern Maryland.  The Staten Island FerryHawks were there, with Pablo Sandoval in tow.  Chris wanted to see him again, and I was happy to oblige.

I bought a bunch of team set cards to bring along to get signed, and for the most part, I wasn't disappointed.  One of the cards I found was this Cards Against Humanity-style card of Brian McKenna.  He told us while we were sitting behind the bullpen at the game about why the card existed.  The team he played for (The Joliet Slammers) had been purchased by Cards Against Humanity, so each player got their own card.  He told me that the cards are pretty hard to find.  I agreed; I paid 10 bucks for it.  I'm glad it got signed, and that McKenna was cool.

I found some cool team set cards of most everyone. Also, there were a few guys with mainstream cards, like Eddy Diaz with 2021 Bowman cards.  My favorite from this group was the Long Island Ducks card of Tyler Dearden.  It's just a cool card.

Drew Maggi also had some mainstream stuff.  I had gotten him before, and he was easy to spot.  McKenna also had a Florence Y'alls card, which looks nice.

The card Sandoval signed was a Topps Archives card using the 1986 Topps design.

I found some cool cards of Jamari Baylor and Connor Overton.  The 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire orange refractor turned out great.  I also finally got Andrew Thurman, who I had tried a couple times TTM and never got anything back.

Ethan Wilson was nice.  We got him outside pregame.  I hated bothering him, but he was nice enough to sign.  I also got my Myrtle Beach team set card of Jarod Wright out of my box.

Nate Roe was nice.  He liked how I had found some of his older stuff.   He pointed them out to another player who was nearby.  Also, Kolby Johnson was super nice. 

For the most part, Chris and I had a great time.  We ran into a very rude player while we were graphing outside after the game. I'm not going to give him any more of my energy.  Aside from that, we had a great time and the weather was beautiful. 

In all, we got the following autographs: Robbie Baker x 2, Mark Contreras x 3, Tyler Dearden x 3, Eddy Diaz x 7, Durbin Feltman x 2, Clay Helvey x 2, Kolby Johnson x 2, Trayson Kubo x 2, Drew Maggi x 3, Brian McKenna x 3, Christian Rodriguez x 2, Nate Roe x 2, Pablo Sandoval x 2, Matt Scheffler x 2, Kirby Snead x 2, Jamari Baylor x 7, Sam Dexter x 2, Connor Overton x 3, Andrew Thurman x 6, Ethan Wilson x 5 and Jarod Wright x 5 (67 total autographs).

August 17, 2025, Graphing of the Sounds at Bulls

A couple weeks ago, I went on my own to Durham to catch the Nashville Sounds while they were in town.  I was pretty much by myself at the visitors dugout pregame, until a woman from Nashville joined me.  She was really good at identifying the players, so that was helpful in getting a good many of my cards signed.  My friend, Josh, ended up showing up and helped get a few extras done.  

I had picked up a few cards from the National, like the above 2024 Topps Chrome Oliver Dunn.  It turned out nicely.

I was excited to get Jorge Alfaro on several cards.  The 2023 Topps gold parallel was a nice addition to the autograph album. 

Alfaro signed for me inside, and again outside.  I knocked out a lot of different stuff, so that was great.

Daz Cameron did almost an entire page both times I saw him.  My green shimmer refractor 2017 Bowman Chrome (bottom far left) was another National pickup.  It was the first card that Cameron hit, and that was a good feeling.

Raynel Delgado (top, left) was really friendly.  He signed the one 2018 Bowman that I was able to find.  Oliver Dunn signed everything that I had.  Josh helped me get my light blue parallel from 2024 Topps Heritage (middle left) signed.  Eric Haase signed during the game at the bullpen.  That was really nice of him.

I happily added a couple more Freddy Zamora to the album.  He was nice when he came through a few years ago with the Mudcats.  I thought I had already gotten the 2021 Heritage Minors signed, but it looks like I hadn't.

Bruce Zimmermann didn't seem like he wanted to be bothered signing, but he did stop.  I can't complain; he signed two of four.

Finally,I got over to the Durham side outside after the game, almost too late.  We were graphing Nashville on their side outside, then the bus left.  When we got over to the Durham side, the only guys we could get were coaches abd trainers.  I had bought a 2025 team set; however, it was great getting the trainers.  They usually are the hardest people to get because they get to the park so early and leave so late.

In all, I got the following autographs: Jorge Alfaro x 6, Daz Cameron x 16, Raynel Delgado x 1, Oliver Dunn x 6, Eric Haase x 3, Jared Oliva x 1, Jeferson Quero x 2, Garrett Stallings x 1, Freddy Zamora x 3 and Bruce Zimmermann x 2, Tsutomu Kamiya x 2, Tyler Ladendorf x 2, Chrystal Rowe x 1 and Kris Russell x 4 (50 total autographs).

2025 Graphing Road Trip Recap

Another graphing road trip with my son Chris has been completed.  This year's destination was Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.  On the way, we hit 6 ballparks, two of which we had already been to in the past.

Before we embarked on the trip, we hit the Ringo Starr concert in Charlotte.  I added a day off to the front of the trip to accommodate for the concert and it was worth it.

We got to the concert late since Chris had a test for his summer math class.  We missed maybe the first three songs or so, but still got to see most of the show and had a good time.

We were going to start the trip easily.with a stop at Greensboro to see the Dash at Grasshoppers.  The game rained out, with a torrential downpour right before game time.  The game was called, then the clouds parted.  We were able to graph and bit outside, knocking out a few Winston-Salem players before we left the stadium.  I also got a couple Pat Listach cards signed in person; he is notoriously tough, but stopped fot Chris and I outside after the game.

Our next stop, and real dive into getting stuff out of my boxes was Charleston.  This has become an easy stadium to stop at and graph in our way to a lot of places.  I had hoped to stop in and see my friend Josh, but he just recently moved and was unavailable for us to hook up with.

I bought a ton of team set cards from gosportscards.com to make sure most.folks that walk by us would likely have something to sign.  We got a good many of cards signed, but did have a lot left over.

Gastonia was in Charleston, and they had a few guys I really wanted to get.  Justus Sheffield was the biggest name, but he wasnt there.  His contract has since been sold to a Mexican League team, so everything I prepped for him will end up in the Box-of-Shame.  Still, we did well, and knocked out a lot of stuff.

I love going to Charleston.  I have ended up there several times in the last few years.  It is relatively close to where my parents live, so it is easy to get to.

Some of the older team set cards I picked up were really cool and look great signed.  The above Staten Island Yabkees card of Bryan Blanton is one example. 

I got my 2019 Midwest League All Star Card of Manuel Alvarez signed on the trip.  My friend Vince got the set for me a while back, and I have been chipping away at it for years.  I also finally got my 2017 Bowman Chrome blue refractor of Travis Demeritte signed.

A couple really cool cards that I picked up prior to the trip were the.two PJ Phillips cards.  He was really nice.  

.The coolest team set card I found was this Samuel Reyes South Bend Cubs card.  It just looks great and Im.glad I got him to come over and sign.

The next morning as we were heading out of the area, Chris and I stopped by the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  I had seen the Mothman statue before, but had never gone to the museum.  The museum was pretty cool.  I got a sweet Mothman shirt while I was there.

Our next stop was Fort Wayne where we saw the Great Lakes Loons at Fort Wayne Tincaps.  They have a nice stadium.  We did ok graphing inside but missed several players.  That was disappointing, but we still did alright.

I was glad to get Leo DeVries outside after the game.  He got a walkoff for Fort Wayne, which was pretty cool to see.  I got my Bowman insert green refractor signed, which was great.

Rosman Verdugo was another guy we got outside after the game.  I just happened to recognize him and he stopped.  I was so.glad because I spent a lot of time searching and prepping for the trip.

I did like the stadium at Fort Wayne.  I'd go back, especially now that I have a better idea on where to stand for graphing.

Our next graphing stop was in Iowa to catch the Omaha Storm Chasers at Iowa Cubs.  I was very excited to try to get Rich Hill finally.  The top of the post shows that I did, in fact, get Hill.  The 2009 Topps Heritage that I got Hill on has him as an Oriole, which is great.  He was very nice and stopped for us on arrival and departure.   We got Cavan Biggio as well, which was a great pickup for the autograph album.

We graphed on arrival, inside pregame and outside post game.  It was very reminiscent of Durham, except that it was tough to get the home team outside.  There were several Iowa guys that we did see outside, so it was a good haul.

Most of the graphers in Iowa were very friendly.  With the exception of one guy.  Still, the biggest help was a kid named Kaden, who was maybe 11 or 12 and could identify most everyone.  He also grabbed a couple cards from me and helped with a few players.  His help was greatly appreciated. 

We dod really well identifying players.  I was actually the one who identified Kyle Wright, so i impressed myself.  Of the people we asked, we were only really denied by Phil Bickford (of all people) who said he is now only signing fot kids.  He was released by the Cubs shortly after the game.

I was glad to get Greg Allen.  I helped my friend Max complete a 2017 Heritage Minors three-way card where Allen was the last signature that he needed.  Also, we got Jake Woodford first, as he got to the stadium.  We watched him come in, then leave with all of his belongings.  It turned out that he had opted out of his contract with the Cubs and was picked up by the Diamondbacks.  We were lucky to get him.

I helped Max get his Rachel Folden cards signed.  I happened to have a blue parallel.that got done.

One of my favorite cards that I got signed was my 2025 Topps blue foil Kenta Maeda.  We got Maeda outside on arrival.  I spotted him as well.  It must have been the Metallica shirt that gave it away. 

Tommy Romero was super nice outside.  He signed for me then waited as Chris came over and flipped through his book to find the cards.  

We did really well in Iowa and graphing was easy.  I would definitely make another trip out there and try some more.  We stayed an extra day in Des Moines and enjoyed the city and surrounding area.

Our next stop (actually, this was before.Iowa; see below) was to check out what the Frontier League looks like in other states.  We caught the Washington Wild Things at Schaumburg Boomers.  Schaumburg had a nice stadium.  We were able to see former Wood Duck, Tyreque Reed.  He seemed to remember Chris and I and has always been cool to us.

I didn't have a lot of cards for this game and then found out after we got there that Sammy Infante (who I had several cards of) was suspended the day before.  Ugh.

I had a 10-card lot of these Perfect Game cards of Satchell Norman.  I had watched his cards since he was drafted by the Brewers in 2022.  I didn't pick them up then, but remembered the name.  He did make it to the Mudcats in 2024 but was released by the Brewers at the end of the season.  Norman was nice and signed everything we had.  Sadly, Schaumburg released him a few days after we saw him.

We liked Schaumburg, but it was very hot there.  I also mixed up my scans; we went to Schaumburg before we went to Iowa.  Oops.  My bad.

After Iowa, we went to Sioux City to see the Sioux City Explorers face the Kane County Cougars.  We did fairly well here as well, with the exception of this being the only place where an usher ran us out of where we were standing.  It looked like someone complained that we were asking for autographs near the clubhouse, but we weren't standing anywhere where we weren't allowed to stand.  The girl that came over said "the players are just getting ready for the game." "No shit, lady."  I didn't say that out loud of course, but it was annoying nonetheless.  It was every bit of someone acting like we were at a Major League stadium, but it was the independent leagues.

Regardless, we moved, my Mom raised me right and we weren't rude.  We moved to a different spot and still got folks.  I was disappointed that I did miss Brett Phillips.

My favorite cards were the ones above that I got signed by former Giants prospect, Luis Toribio.

We had a lot of those oddball old team set cards for Sioux City and Kane County and got a lot of them done.  I did miss several. Ut have already sent a few out TTM with the hope that they still get signed.

Sioux City was the last graphing stop on the trip.  We wanted to leave some time to check out other stuff in the area on the way to Mount Rushmore. 

Here is the requisite ballpark picture of Chris and I.  This was from Sioux City. 

We did pretty well graphing outside at Sioux City.  The girl that ran us off in the stadium earlier in the night glared at me several times.  I k iw she was just doing her job but she could have been a lot friendlier.  Smile lady, you work in baseball.  That's a lot of people's dream job.

Our theme of this year's trip was to check out roadside attractions and some things in the areas of the cities in which we stopped.  On our way to Des Moines, it popped in my head to see how far we would be from Clear Lake, Iowa.  It turned out that we would be an hour and a half away, so on our open day in Des Moines, we went up to Clear Lake and checked out the Surf Ballroom.  We went from there to the memorial and crash site where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper went down.

Chris had no idea who the three were, but I grew up watching La Bamba, so it was an interesting stop. 

We also stopped in Rockford, Illinois on the way from Schaumburg to Des Moines.  We stopped at Beyer Field, where the Rockford Peaches used to play.  The original stadium had fallen into disrepair and had been torn down.  They have since begun restoring the area, which is cool.  Chris had to pose in this pic reminiscent of a scene from.A League of Their Own; "What a hitter!"

Finally, we did make it to Mount Rushmore.  It turned out that Vice President Vance was there the same time we were.  We didn't see him, but saw the expanded security.  It was cool to say we were there at the same time.

In all, we got the following autographs: Dash at Grasshoppers: Lucas Gordon x 6, Pat Listach x 2, Braden Montgomery x 4, Christian Oppor x 4 and Jordan Sprinkle x 2 (18 autographs); Ghost Peppers at Dirty Birds: Ronaldo Alesandro x 2, Manuel Alvarez x 1, Ben Blackwell x 2, Zach Daniels x 1, Travis Demeritte x 4, Eddy Demurias x 2, Cip Garza x 2, Jonh Henriquez x 2, Jamison Hill x 2, Kyle McGowin x 2, James Nelson x 1, PJ Phillips x 2, Samuel Reyes x 4, Joseph Rosa x 2, Jonathan Soto x 2, Alesander Womack x 2, Bryan Blanton x 2, Narciso Crook x 2, Eric De La Rosa x 4, Tony Fossas x 3, Goose Gozzo x 11, Dalton Guthrie x 4, Ryan Hennen x 4, Cole Roederer x 3, Ethan Skender x 2 and Kevin Watson, Jr. x 2 (70 autographs); Loons at Tincaps: Brooks Auger x 11, Wyatt Crowell x 8, Joseilyn Gonzalez x 2, Payton Martin x 2, Christian Ruebeck x 2, Mike Sirota x 2, Clark Candiotti x 3, Leo De Vries x 2, Thomas Eschelman x 2, Ethan Long x 4 and Rosman Verdugo x 2 (40 autographs); Wild Things at Boomers: Ryan Chasse x 2, Jordan DiValerio x 2, Kadon Morton x 2, Tyreque Reed x 2, Satchell Norman x 10 and Bren Spillane x 2 (20 autographs); Storm Chasers at Cubs: Cavan Biggio x 4, Dairon Blanco x 3, Jonathan Bowlan x 2, Diego Castillo x 2, Harold Castro x 8, Eric Cerantola x 1, Justin Dunn x 1, John Gant x 4, Tyler Gentry x 5, Thomas Hatch x 2, Rich Hill x 6, Kenta Maeda x 2, Luke Maile x 4, MJ Melendez x 2, Noah Murdock x 1, Stephen Nogosek x 1, Nate Pearson x 2, Carlos Perez x 3, Nick Pratto x 8, Luca Tresh x 4, Joey Wiemer x 4, Peyton Wilson x 2, Jake Woodford x 4, Kyle Wright x 2, Greg Allen x 7, Moises Ballesteros x 2, Phil Bickford x 1, Ben Brown x 1, Hayden Cantrelle x 2, Rachel Folden x 4, Christian Franklin x 7, Brandon Hughes x 4, Dixon Machado x 3, Marty Pevey x 4, Ethan Roberts x 3, Tommy Romero x 5 and James Triantos x 2 (122 autographs); Cougars at Explorers: Marcus Chiu x 2, Nick Dalesandro x 2, Claudio Finol x 2, David Holmberg x 2, Todd Lott X 2, Robby Martin Jr x 10, Jordan Martinson x 3, Logan Nissen x 2, Oscar Santos x 10, Vin Timpanelli x 2, George Tsamis x 3, Armond Upshaw x 1, Kurtis Byrne x 10, Josh Day x 2, Austin Druiry x 2, D'Shawn Knowles x 15, Abdiel Layer x 10, Kyle Marman x 12 and Luis Toribio x 5 (97 autographs).  We got the second-most autographs on this trip co.pared to other annual graphing road trips with 367.  The most.we had was last year to Buffalo and Erie, etc. with 376.