August 30, 2025, Graphing of the WooSox at Bulls

A graphing trip to Durham with Jesse was in the cards (pardon the pun) not too long ago. I had gathered cards for the trip for some time now and it paid off with a nice haul.

It's hard to tell, but the above 2024 Topps Holiday relic card is signed by Kyle Harrison.  Harrison signed almost everything I had but each card was signed at the very bottom of each one.

See?  Still, he signed a good bit for me.  I had some really good stuff, like the 2024 Topps Heritage purple chrome (bottom right).

We got most everyone we needed inside pregame.  There was a funny kid who ran up right when I was getting Vaughn Grissom.  He talked with us a good bit and helped me get the 2016 Topps Chrome speckle refractor of Trayce Thompson signed (middle, right).

The kid proceeded to tell us how much he hated the Dodgers and all of their players.  The little guy next to him looked at him, puzzled and said "even Betts?" And the kid said "Yeah! Oh, wait..." (he was wearing a Mookie Betts Red Sox jersey).

I had sent my Jhostynxon Garcia Bowmans to Gerard since he had been sent up to Boston.  I didn't get the cards back in time for thos trip, so I got him on the 1994 Score Fenway Park card.

Jesse and I tried to graph Durham outside postgame, but there was only one other grapher there.  That guy hadn't been to Durham in a long time, so the three of us struggled to identify players.  We did identify Richie Palacios, so I got my 2025 Topps signed.

We also got a couple cards from the team set taken care of.  We had a great time at the game and got some good autographs.

In all, I got the following autographs: Max Ferguson x 10, Jhostynxon Garcia x 1, Rich Gedman x 1, Vaughn Grissom x 2, Kyle Harrison x 10, Mikey Romero x 2, Trayce Thompson x 3, Abraham Toro x 2, Seby Zavala x 2, Garrett Acton x 1, Kenny Hook x 1, Kevin Kelly x 1, Coco Montes x 1, Tanner Murray x 1 and Richie Palacios x 1 (39 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 National Paid Signer - Michael Busch

The first paid signer this year at the National was Cubs first baseman Michael Busch.  I needed to complete the above 2019 Bowman Chrome Franchise Futures card that I had already gotten signed by Kody Hoese.

I was only going to go for the dual, until I found the above purple chrome parallel from 2024 Topps Heritage. This card looks great.

Busch (b. 1997) has played in the majors since 2023 for the Dodgers and Cubs.  He has 231 hits, 44 home runs and a .249 batting average so far in his career.  The Cubs got Busch in January 2024 along with Yency Almonte in a trade for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope.

TTM SUccess - Brandon Williamson

Here are a couple recent cards that I was able to get signed TTM by Brandon Williamson.  The above 2024 Topps Heritage is a really nice card.  I loved that Heritage set, and was glad to get a few signed when I did.

I also sent off this 2023 Topps Update. The signature shows up a little better on this one than the Heritage.

Williamson (b. 1998) had played in the majors since 2023 for the Reds.  He has a record of 5-5 with 110 strike outs and a 4.39 ERA.  He hasn't pitched yet this season; he's on the 60-day IL.

I mailed to Williamson on January 13 and got the cards back on February 10 for a 28-day TAT.