50/50s and More From Brayden

It's not often when someone messages me out of the blue saying "I think you're a good guy and I'd like to be friends", but that is essentially how the first conversation between my friend Brayden and I went.  He had messaged something to that effect to me, then we went on to make a deal later for an Adrian Beltre signed baseball.

Since then, I have talked to Brayden daily.  He's a huge Yoan Moncada fan.  Not only because Moncada is a great prospect and all, but because they have an actual friendship.  I think that is pretty cool.  Brayden lives in Texas, and his home MiLB team is the Frisco RoughRiders, so he is able to catch some Wood Ducks that have been promoted out of High A.

Brayden took care of a few 50/50s for me, and also included some nice Orioles cards and a couple other IP autos that he was able to get recently.

I had sent Brayden the last remaining Mike O'Neill card that I had, along with another that I had found in a dime box earlier this year at a show.  He took care of those for me, even though I was completely ok if he had kept them.  He also added the above Jason Castro and Randy Choate cards.

Brayden got a few Isiah Kiner-Falefa cards done for me, and added the 2015 Bowman Joe Jackson.  Jackson is cool because he is a distant nephew of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Finally, Brayden included this nice autograph of Darren O'Day and this rookie card of Chris Davis.  He didn't have to add the extras, but it was really cool of him to do so.  Brayden is a great guy, and I am really happy that he saw to it to message me that day.

Thank you Brayden!

Graphing in Durham at the Last Minute

My friend Cameron came into town for the weekend and we decided today that we would hit up a baseball game in the area.  We went to the LCS and picked up a bunch of Durham Bulls cards, since they were the only nearby team that was playing at home today.  As I was getting ready to head out the door, my good friend Brayden messaged me YOAN!  It hit me that the Bulls were playing Charlotte, and Yoan Moncada was on the Knights.  I had just pulled this /99 orange parallel out of my Series 2 silver packs and had been begging Brayden to get his buddy Moncada to sign it for me.

Brayden is a great guy, but he is also realistic.  He lives in Texas, and isn't sure when he will be able to see Moncada again, so I was feeling like I might not be able to get this awesome card signed.  Thankfully, Brayden sent me a jolt to remind me, and I set about my mission to get Moncada on this card.

Cameron and I watched along the 1 hour and 45 minute drive to Durham that the sky was getting darker and darker.  Finally, as we got to the stadium, it began to rain.  We waited by the visiting dugout, then it started pouring.  We moved from our spot to one beneath the roof and waited for the rain to subside.  When it got to a point where I didn't feel like the rain would be an issue, I went back to my post by the visiting dugout.  Luckily, due to the rain, the other graphers had moved out, and I had a prime position to be able to get Moncada, should the game be played, and should he choose to sign.

Then the power went out at the stadium.  We waited and waited, as other graphers finally came and stood nearby.  I looked across the field and saw that the Bulls had already filled their dugout.  One of the graphers (a rare lady-grapher) was kind enough to tell me she would hold my spot by the dugout if I went to try to get a few Bulls.  I walked over and tried for a few minutes, but none of the players were coming over, so I went back to my spot.  I summoned Cameron over (he had continued to stay under the shelter) and recruited the poor guy to try to get a few Bulls for me while I tried to get Moncada.  Cameron tried valiantly, but he was unable to get any Bulls autos.  I'll have to 50/50 those cards with Dilan or Dugan.

Finally, Moncada came out and I was the first person he signed for.  I had two cards, but he was one per.  I was ok with that, because the one he signed was my Orange.  It looks awesome!  I thank Brayden for reminding me that I would have a shot at Moncada, and believing in me that I could get the job done.  I tried to get a card signed for him, but since Moncada is one per, I was unable to.

We ended up leaving the game early, since the Bulls were up 10-0 on the Knights, and the game had been delayed at the start.  We ran into more rain as we were driving home, so this proved to be a wise move.  The Bulls ended up routing the Knights, 17-3.

Weekend of Graphing the Pelicans and Wood Ducks

I went to three of the four games between the Down East Wood Ducks and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans this weekend, beginning on Thursday.  I had some 5/50s to take care of for Weston, Billy, Max, Dugan, Andrew and Gerard.  I also ended up with a bunch of extras, so my good friend, Brayden, will probably be seeing a care package soon, as well.

The biggest name on the Pelicans' roster is Eloy Jimenez.  He signed one per, but I was able to get him both pre and post game at all of the games.  I did really well, I think.  I also had Chris helping me on Thursday, so that worked out as well.

I've already pulled out all of the cards going out for the 50/50s.  Max was a big help in getting me stuff from the Pelicans that I could get signed.  They are a Cubs team, so he will be happy with the autos that he will be getting back.

I met a father and son on Thursday who were graphing together, and they gave me a few Ryan Kelloggs, so I ended up with extras after helping Max with the 50/50.

I skipped the Saturday game to go to the card show in Raleigh, which helped me replinish some of my Wood Ducks stock, and I also picked up a few Carolina League guys for future use.  I also grabbed a couple more Jimenez and Justin Steele cards while I was there.

I continued to "rack" Josh Morgan and Jeremy Moore.  I didn't get a chance to get Morgan's opinion on autographing multiple cards, but seeing him sign 32 cards between two people made me feel a lot better about my pages of four.

There have been some recent call ups to the Wood Ducks, so I was able to get a few more cards signed from my Crawdads set that I bought.  That reminds me, I need to look through Chris's set and make sure he has covered some of these guys as well.

I spoke briefly with Emerson Martinez, mainly about a player (Zack Bird) who's card he didn't recognize.  It appears that there are players who are listed on the roster who aren't with the team, and this comes as a surprise to folks who actually are on the team.  It was kind of a funny, but helpful moment.

 I was able to add two new Topps cards to my ledger with the 1985 and 1990 All Star shown above.

I was able to get some nice HoJo cards signed.  He is only doing two-per as of late, but that is fine with me.  Bobby Rose has been away from the team, so I am still sitting on some cards of his to get signed.  I hope I can get moving on them soon.

In all, here is how I did:  I got Howard Johnson x 12, Josh Morgan x 24, Chuck Moorman x 1, Tyler Sanchez x 1, Jeffrey Springs x 1, Jeremy Moore x 10, Jairo Beras x 4, Brett Martin x 1, Emerson Martinez x 1, Jonathan Hernandex x 1, Justin Steele x 8, Ryan Kellogg x 7, Tyler Alamo x 2 and Eloy Jimenez x 6.  I also got Matt Lipka x 4, but those are pending Gerard's approval of what goes and what stays.  So, I ended up with 79 signed baseball cards.

I gave away a bunch of my extra Josh Morgan cards to some kids who were standing there wanting autographs, so they could at least come away with something.  I traded for a 2017 Pro Debut with Colin and his dad, then they gave me a handful of blank ones that I could get Morgan to sign myself.  I was glad to get those, because Pro Debut has been tough to find.

I am now taking a few nights off from graphing, and searching boxes.  This past week has been exhausting with all of the 50/50s I have been working on.

Christmas Gift and a Deal From Brayden

I got a surprise direct message a few days ago from someone on Instagram that I had never talked to before.  His name is Brayden, and he told me that he wanted to send me a care package because he had seen that I did a lot for the card community.  Brayden had some Orioles cards that he wanted to give me and we continued talking well after this was established.  It turns out that Brayden gets a lot of autographs from around Texas and had some baseballs I was interested in.  We made a quick and easy deal for the above Adrian Beltre signed ball.

The ball is a 2011 All Star baseball, but it was signed on the wrong side panel.  I didn't mind, and Brayden was really nice and made me a sweet deal that I couldn't refuse.  I wanted the ball because I feel like Beltre will be a Hall of Famer once he becomes eligible, so he would fit into my HOF collection.

Brayden included the initial cards that he wanted to send with the Beltre ball.  Among them was this 2012 Bowman Platinum Schoop.  All of the cards Brayden sent were great, and I really appreciated them.  The best part of it all is that I feel like I made a new friend.  I hope we can keep making deals and talking in the future because he seems to be a really nice guy!

Thanks for the awesome deal and Christmas package, Brayden!