August 20, 2023, Graphing of Hot Rods at Grasshoppers

Yesterday, Chris and I went to Greensboro to catch the Bowling Green Hot Rods at Grasshoppers.  I wanted to try to graph Termarr Johnson since he had been brought up to Greensboro.  We were supposed to meet up with a friend at the game, but our friend's plans changed at the last minute. 

We were able to get Johnson on 4 cards. I had a bunch of Greensboro stuff to get done for my friend, Gerard, and got everyone except for Tres Gonzalez.  He ignored both times he walked by.  Still, it was a very successful day.

It looks like my marker is on the way out, so I'll have to try to replace it over the next couple of days.  I prefer the Michaels Artosts Loft markers, but Michaels has been sold out evert time I've gone by there this summer.  There is a big difference between the marker I used and the Sharpie Chris had yesterday.  My hope was that the difference was due to excess powder on Gerard's cards, but when I looked back at my High Point stuff from the day before, I could see that the marker was starting to die off.

I switched up for post game and my Brock Jones turned out fine.  I've always got a backup marker, so I should be ok, but that'll leave me without the backup, of course.

I was really glad to finally get these two Jeff Hakanson cards signed.  I missed him the two times I saw Charleston this season, then he was called up to Bowling Green.  They're now done, so I have them in the album now.

The two Chandler Simpson cards are some that I found at the National; then he was moved to Bowling Green. I was glad to go ahead and get them signed, as well.  Willy Vasquez was tough.  He grabbed the black Sharpie that belonged to the guy next to me, signed my card with it (no big deal), but then looked right at Chris and skipped him.  Chris would walk up to him outside post game on the sidewalk and ask again. Vasquez told him "No, leave" so Chris walked away. Then Vasquez left.  Had I known that he had said that right away, I'd have told Chris to just give him the card and walk away. I don't normally like to do stuff like that when someone refuses to sign, but when someone is rude to my kid, I don't need to keep your unsigned card hoping you'll sign at a later time. This was coupled with us asking JJ Goss if he would sign.  He said "I'll put my stuff down and come back."  He never did.  So, all of Goss's stuff will either be put back in the mail to Gerard or will be dumped into a box.  I won't bother him again.

Other than the disappointment from both of those guys, we had a great time.  The weekend was filled with great weather, two really good games and a lot of graphing.  I also spent time with my family while we were out that way.  With school starting back soon, this may have been the last weekend I will have available graph with Chris.  I feel like we made it a good one.

In all, we got the following autographs: Jase Bowen x 3, Bubba Chandler x 6, Maikol Escotto x 5, Thomas Harrington x 2, Termarr Johnson x 4, Sammy Siani x 6, Jeff Hakanson x 2, Brock Jones x 1, Chandler Simpson x 2 and Willy Vasquez x 1 (32 total autographs).

June 18, 2023, Graphing of the Hot Rods at Crawdads

This past Sunday, I finally got around to visiting Hickory.  It was great being able to see Cody Freeman again.  My friend, Jessie, gave me the above team set card to get signed.  It is always nice when someone is excited to see you, and it seemed like Chris and I made Cody's day.

I was able to get three of the Wood Ducks cards signed of guys who moved up after the set was photographed.

We were told by some other graphers pre-game that Alejandro Osuna hadn't touched a pen all season and Maximo Acosta wouldn't sign for us.  Both recognized us and stopped to sign, which was cool to see them prove those guys wrong. 

The Crawdads were playing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, and I was able to get a bunch of Rays stuff out of my minors box.  Brock Jones was really nice and signed everything we had.

Dru Baker, Carson Williams and Willy Vazquez were all one per.  I was also able to get Tony Locey on a 2019 Bowman Draft.  I had sent to him TTM but never got the cards back.  I wish the orange refractor I had sent him had at least come back RTS because I'd have loved to have gotten it signed.

Chris and I did really well and got most of everything signed that we brought with us.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Dane Acker x 2, Cody Freeman x 1, Tucker Mitchell x 6, Jackson Kelley x 4, Abi Ortiz x 6, Alejandro Osuna x 4, Dru Baker x 2, JJ Goss x 2, Brock Jones x 11, Tony Locey x 1, Nick Schnell x 1, Willy Vasquez x 1 and Carson Williams x 2 (45 total autographs). 

IP Graphing Recap From My Trip

One of the things Andrew and I planned on doing while I was visiting him was to go to a Cardinals game, and also a minor league game in his area.  The Bowming Green Hot Rods are the closest minor league team to him, so we were able to find a home game to attend while I was in town.  We also were fortunate enough that the St. Louis Cardinals were also at home while I was there.

One of the highlights of being able to see Bowling Green (the Single A team for the Tampa Bay Rays) was that I could finally meet Jonah Heim.  Heim was a former Orioles farmhand who was dealt to Tampa last year for Steve Pearce.

I had a bunch of Heim's cards, so I split them with Andrew, and we got all of them signed.  I was especially happy about the 2013 Bowman Chrome green mini numbered 65/75.  I also got the blue shimmer, purple ice and refractor signed.

I bought some Garrett Whitley cards for the trip, and I also accepted a 50/50 from my good friend, Gerard, but Whitley only signed two cards for me.  One of them was the above yellow parallel from 2016 Bowman, and a 2015 Bowman paper for Gerard.

I got two cards signed by Lucius Fox.  I had bought three Bowman Platinum, but he wouldn't sign them.  He said that it wasn't him on the card, but how many Lucius Foxes are playing in the minors?

I also bought a bulk lot of Dylan Cease cards.  He was on the DL, but was gracious enough to sign for Andrew and I.  I got a 2017 Bowman Chrome taken care of for Gerard, and the rest of the ones I had signed were from what I picked up.

I really like how this blue parallel of Cease from 2016 Bowman Chrome turned out.  I got it pretty cheaply off of Ebay specifically for the trip.  Andrew is going to try to get the rest of the cards taken care of for me as the season progresses.

I did really well with the coaches, too, with the exception for mistaking the Hot Rods manager for Hector Torres.  Apparently there is about a 30-year age difference between the two, and the manager was happy to have a "serious discussion" (his words) with me.  I'm going to have to get one of his cards and send it to him and have him inscribe it "I am not Hector Torres".  That would be funny, and make my embarrassment worthwhile.

I dug through my mid-2000s Topps boxes at the last minute before I left for Andrew's, and found two Brian Lawrence cards.  I gave one to Andrew, and got this 2005 Topps signed.

I did have a little success at the Cardinals vs. Giants game the day before.  Andrew and I each got one of these 2017 Topps Giants team cards signed by Giants reliever, Josh Osich.  It really is a crapshoot in being able to figure out which MLB players will sign, so I was happy that I brought along the random team card.

I had a really great time at both ball parks.  I now have been to 4 MLB parks (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis), and countless MiLB parks (I will update my map soon).  I also had fun with Andrew, and hope I can get him down my way to graph the Wood Ducks sometime soon.

Christmas 2012

Christmas has come and gone once again.  It takes a whole year to arrive and then is gone in a flash.  This year, we stretched it out over the course of 3 days.  Christmas Eve was spent at my grandmother's house with my family, my aunt (my Dad's sister), her kids, her friend and my uncle (my Dad's brother) and his kids.  After a nice dinner and opening of gifts for the kids, we did our annual tradition of the 11PM service at my family church in Winston-Salem.  Christmas morning was spent at my parents' house with most of my brothers and sisters opening presents from my parents.  We left from their house Christmas day for Charlotte so we could spend some time with my wife's parents.  Finally, we left there this morning and headed home to open presents at our house.  Here is some of the stuff that I got this year.

My mom has had this ongoing tradition over the last few years of giving me minor league jerseys.  In the past, she has given me: Montgomery Biscuits, Lansing Lugnuts, LeHigh Valley IronPigs and Toledo Mud Hens.  I also have a couple Kinston Indians jerseys that I picked up on my own before they skipped town.

This year's jerseys were really cool (as always, of course).  I got a Greenville Drive jersey.  This one is actually a game used jersey from their July 31, 2011 Textile Night, I believe.  Startex is a local textile company in the general vicinity of Greenville, SC.  I'm not sure who wore the jersey, but they were available via silent auction during that game.  I would love to figure out who actually wore it during the game.  Greenville is the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The other jersey I got was this one for the Bowling Green Hot Rods.  They are the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.  Pretty simple jersey, but I think it is pretty cool.  That is what Mom and I love about the minor league jerseys; the teams' names in most cases are very unique.  She has been enjoying looking for different teams.

No Christmas would be complete without an assortment of some Orioles stuff.  I have a plaque to hang on the wall, a little figuring for my desk, a magnet and a banner to hang.  Pretty sweet.  I'm so glad the O's went back to the cartoon bird.  I feel like it has character, so to speak.

Finally, Here is another assortment of stuff I got that wasn't baseball cards (which I got several packs of, plus one really cool vintage card that my brother gave me and will be posted later...).  I got the round baseball book from my in-laws and the rest were another item to hang on the wall and a couple books from my mom.  I always enjoy the Hall of Fame books that come out every year (because there are a lot of pictures).  The book in the middle is a sticker book that I will have a good time filling out.

I hope you all had a great Christmas with your loved ones and got all the things you asked for.  I had a great time with my family and will enjoy the next several days off recuperating from the holiday tour of NC.