Some Biloxi 50/50s

I had a few cards left over from the Mudcats last season, so I put out a message on my Instagram to see if anyone could take some of those guys this season.  A guy named Johann was able to take the cards and 50/50 for me.

I had been stuck with some Jake Gatewood cards that I found right before he was moved up from the Mudcats.  I wasn't able to get them signed, so I was glad that Johann agreed to take them.

I also think he missed some time with the Mudcats, as well.  I know I would have tried to get the 2015 Pro Debut (top left) signed pretty early on, so maybe that contributed to my large stash of his cards.

I appreciated Johann getting them all done for me.  All of the cards turned out great.

He had messaged me telling me that he had accidentally damaged a couple Bob Milacki cards when he spilled some water, so Johann, on his own, went on Ebay and replaced a couple for me.  He didn't have to do that, but it was really appreciated.

Finally, one of the cards I had sent was my 1991 Orioles Crown Bob Milacki.  I had picked up the set after last season, then Milacki was moved up to coach at Biloxi, so I missed out on him on this card.  I'm really glad Johann was able to hook me up, and I know we will do more 50/50s next season.

Graphing the Mudcats in the Rain

My friend Michael was visiting over Memorial Day Weekend, and we wanted to try to hit up another ballpark in the area before he left.  Since we had pretty muched tapped out all of the Keys and Wood Ducks we had, we decided to head toward Raleigh, and see the Carolina Mudcats on Memorial Day.

There was a pretty ominous forecast, but as of the time we loaded the car, 9:45 AM, the game was still a go.  I wanted to grab some coffee on the way to the park, so that's why we left early.

We got to the ballpark, and were informed that at 10AM, the call was made to cancel the game.  It was raining some, but it wasn't too bad, so we decided to watch the Mudcats swing in the cages, since they were out.

As tie went by, the rain intensified, but luckily, I had an umbrella in my car.  We waited by the player exit, and were able to get autographs of everyone we were looking for.  I'm glad we stuck around, because Keston Hiura was moved up to AA a couple days later.

The first auto we got was of former Oriole, Bob Milacki.  He was really nice, and signed everything we had.  Unfortunately, a drop of water hit one of the cards, and it messed my pen up.  You can kind of see in on the 1991 Topps (bottom right).

I did a 50/50 for my friend, Gerard, and these two Tucker Neuhaus were some that I was allowed to keep.  Since he braved the weather, and held the umbrella, Chris kept these cards.

I had these Phil Bickford cards in my box for a while, since he was hurt for most of last season.  I got almost everything done, which was nice.  He was a really nice guy.

Finally, we had gone to the LCS and picked up some nice cards for graphing.  Some of the cards were of Nathan Kirby, since I didn't find any of him in my box.

In all, we did pretty well, and it was worth the hour drive to Zebulon.

Partial Christmas Gift From Max

I have made a lot of friends in this hobby, from the day in October 2006 when I started helping out at the former card shop in Winston-Salem, to when I started this blog in November 2008 to when I joined the Instagram card community in November of 2013.  One of the friends that count among the best of the best is my good friend, Max.  He and I have been trading for a long time now, and hung out at the National this past summer.  We text and skype almost every day.  He is an amazing person, whom I can't imagine being without.

Max sent me what he says was half of my Christmas gift.  The above Fergie Jenkis ball was something he picked up in person about a month ago for me, so I used it as an opportunity to upgrade the ball that I had.  Mine was one of my original TTM successes, but was on a China ball with a bad pen, so it has faded quite a bit.

This one looks so much better and is on an OMLB ball.  Definitely an upgrade!

Max knew someone who was doing some "graphing" recently, and was able to take every Bob Milacki card that I could find and turned them into autos.  Max and I 50/50'ed the cards and here are a few of the notable ones.

I love 1989 Topps's design, so I had to show this one.  It looks really cool signed.  I need to get myself into more TTMs on cards, because I feel like TTM autos give some of the 80s-90s cards new life, so to speak.

Speaking of 80s-90s cards, here is a nice signed 1989 Donruss, followed by the below 1990 Donruss.

In all, Max sent me 9 Milacki signed cards.  Not bad at all!  I'm really happy with them, and they will go into my TTM binder.

Max also included some signed cards by other former Orioles.  This 2012 Robert Andino is a nice one.

I was surprised last year to see that Adam Loewen popped back up in the majors in the Phillies pitching staff.  I guess his left arm is feeling better now after taking a few years off from pitching and playing as a position player.

Finally, this really cool Xavier Avery auto on a 2012 Topps.  Avery is back with the Orioles as a minor league signing.  He will try to break camp with the O's in Spring Training.  I feel like he is outfield depth at AAA, but not a bad deal on a milb contract.

So, thank you so much for the awesome package, Max.  As always, I appreciate it!