Billy Helps Complete a Set

Finally! A Wood Ducks team set is complete.  My good friend, Billy, got the Wood Ducks alternate mascot, Cornbread, to finally sign my 2022 Wood Ducks team set card.  I was out of town when the Woodies were the Collard Greens last week.  Billy came through in the clutch for me.

I think I completed the 2018 team set.  If not, the 22 set is the first one I've finished.  Thanks so much for the help, Billy!

Billy Helps Finish Some Graphs

My friend, Billy, took some of the cards I missed when Columbia was in town and got them signed for me.  I completely missed the above 1991 Crown Orioles card of John Habyan.  Thankfully, Billy hooked me up.

I had found a couple other cards of Habyan and those got done.  I had also found the Bowman Sapphire of Shane Panzini.  The cards turned out great.  I really loved getting these taken care of and into my album.  Billy has been a great friend and a lot of fun to sit next to at the Wood Duck games.  It sucks that the season is ending because I won't see Billy until next season. 

Thanks for getting these cards done for me, Billy!

Some Awesome IP Autos From Billy

When the Down East Wood Ducks held their first exhibition game against Mount Olive College, the second person I met at Grainger Stadium (the first being my friend, Scott) was a guy I knew for a long time as the "Pickle Man."  He always wore a Mount Olive Pickles hat, which is why I referred to him as such.  After graphing together for a while, I struck up a friendship with Billy.  He has been coming to Grainger Stadium for quite a while, and I marvel at the players that he saw come through Kinston.

Recently, we decided to trade some autographs that we had gotten in the past, and he brought a small stack of cards today.  Telling me I could keep them all, I was blown away at what was in the stack after he said was a "20-minute search through his boxes..."  Amazing.  Obviously, the card that really got me was the above 1992 Topps Manny Ramirez.  I know Manny came through Kinston back in the day, but here is an early autograph, before Manny was Manny.

The hits kept coming, an Adrian Gonzalez, Tom Glavine, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jake Arrieta.  All of these guys were amazing finds in the stack.

I liked this Jose Constanza because it is just a really cool auto.  It looks similar to some other guys I've seen.

It just amazes me to think of all of the guys that Billy has seen come through as he has graphed ove the years.  I believe he told me he has gotten autographs in Kinston since the 70s.  He also told me that he used to be a popcorn vendor there, which must have been a sight!

A lot of these guys are players that I have heard of over time.  I would love to get a chance to really dig into his albums and boxes to see all of the stuff he has gotten signed over the years.  It also makes me think of just how others could be amazed at the stuff I've gotten signed over my short time graphing.

These 2001 SAL Top Prospects cards were also really cool.  I like these old team sets, especially when you are able to see whatever stadium is in the background.

Thank you so much for the cards, Billy.  Most importantly, though, thank you for the camaraderie over the last several years at the games.  Like I said earlier today at the game, this is fun and all, but it is so much more fun when you can go to the games and have someone to enjoy it with.  I'm glad we have gotten close, and I look forward to many more games and experiences together.

Meeting Johnny Bench and Doug Flynn

My friend Billy, who Chris and I met at the Wood Ducks games a while back, told me recently about a signing that was to take place in Wallace, NC with Hall of Famer, Johnny Bench.  The signing was going to happen at the Mad Boar restaurant in Wallace a few days before the Hope For The Heroes golf tournament.  Apparently, Bench has been coming out this way for years, and the benefit has grown.  I went ahead and searched for a ton of cards, as the lady I spoke to on the phone told me that autographs would be between $5-$10.  I knew there was no way, but from what Billy told me, the prices were very reasonable with a donation going toward the cause.  He donated a sum last year and got his items signed, so I figured I had a good chance to get a ton of stuff taken care of.

In all, I got 11 items signed by Bench, and 14 items signed by Doug Flynn for a donation of $330 to the cause.  Bench was a little surly at the start, but during the second time through the line, he had a couple more drinks in him, and he had settled down.

I made the trip with my son, Chris, and met up with my good friend, Jackson, and also Billy.  Jackson made the trip through the line with me initially and got a couple baseballs signed.  He and I went back through with his Doug Flynn cards, and a couple more baseballs, and that was when Bench had warmed up a lot more.  He offered for us to come behind the table with him and take some pictures, which made the initial surliness a distant memory.

 I had to raid some of my sets to have some good Topps cards for Bench to sign.  Also, I had sent most of my Flynns to someone else for graphing, so I was pretty short on his stuff.  I did get rid of a couple 1976 Topps Reds team cards, which is always a plus.  I put Flynn on those and gave one to Chris.

My amazingly awesome friend, Max, sent me an assortment of Flynn cards to go along with the few that I raided from my completed sets.  All of the cards turned out great, and I was glad to get everything signed.  I don't mind replacing what I robbed from the sets at a later date.

I did find a ton of 1983 Donruss Doug Flynn cards, but that was because that box is at the very bottom of my stack of 5,000-count boxes, and apparently, I was too lazy to look through it for the 50/50 I had sent off for earlier on.

This was Surly Bench, early on.  He made a comment about how I wasn't really donating, but paying to get cards signed.  I got the point, but because I believed in the cause was why I spent so much.  If it was a donation to fund an underwater basket weaving class, I wouldn't have spent as much.

Bench was a lot happier when this photo of Jackson and I was taken with Bench and Flynn.  He really ended up being cool, and I imagine he was just trying to bust my chops early on.  I get it, and I definitely am not bothered by it anymore.

The main piece that was signed was this photo from 2013 of Chris and Bench.  Photo cred goes to old friend of the blog, the great Drew!  (Drew, time for you to come back to the blogs)

Finally, I upgraded the Bench ball in my collection with one of these, and I got an extra one done, just because.

I was happy to contribute to the Hope For The Heroes cause, and also spend some time with my son and a couple good friends.  Thanks to Billy for telling me about the event, and thanks to Jackson for making the trip.I definitely will go next year!