Day 3 of the Texas Trip - Reunited With Some Wood Ducks

The third day in Texas with Chris brought us to Dr. Pepper Ballpark, home of the Frisco Roughriders.  We were there to see where the Wood Ducks players go when they move up to Double A.

We got to the ballpark early, then met up with my friend, Ethan, and bought his lunch.  Chris and I weren't hungry, since we had eaten at our first Brazilian steakhouse earlier that day.

All of the pictures I had seen on Dr. Pepper Ballpark showed me that it was a really beautiful place.  I wasn't disappointed, as it definitely was one of the nicest looking parks I have ever been to.

While we were there, my friend, Sam, met us and graphed with us for a bit.  He actually helped Chris and I get a few Anthony Gose cards signed, since Gose only signs one per.

We also were able to get cards signed by some of the former Wood Ducks on out team set.  Josh Morgan, Brett Martin, Anthony Gose, Adam Choplick, CD Pelham, Jonathan Hernandez and Edgar Arredondo all remembered us.

I took a few 50/50s for Gerard for the Roughriders and their opponent, the Springfield Cardinals.  I was especially happy to get the 2010 Bowman USA 18U card signed by Chris Chinea.  I picked those cards up from a dime box at the 2012 National.

I got most of these cards from Gerard for the 50/50.  I think one of the Lane Thomas cards was mine, but I'm not even sure now.

I got a Gose card signed for my good friend, Cal, as part of a 50/50 with him.  Max also sent me a few, so I'm going to hook him up with one, as well.

This Victor Roache card was actually mine.  I foundit fairly quickly when I was looking through my box.

I also met up with fellow Instagrammer, John, who I had done 50/50s with earlier in the year.  He hooked me up with two 1987 Topps that I needed for my set.

This was our last baseball day of the trip.  We spent the next day hanging out at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas, and returned home that Saturday.

We Are The (Co)Champions

Well now.  I never thought I would have been able to say this, but the Down East Wood Ducks are Co-Champions of the Carolina League.  In their first season of existence.  Following an improbable run in August and September that they parlayed into a playoff spot, the impending hurricane strike shortened the Carolina League playoffs and forced them to name co-champions for the first time since 1999.

I waited since the end of the 2011 minor league season for a team to come back to Kinston, and Chris and I have been with this team from the start.  We went to the first ever team practice, and the meet the team event in March.

This was my first ever season graphing minor league games, and in doing so, I got 964 baseball cards signed throughout the season.  During that time, I enjoyed chatting with all of the Wood Ducks (and some on opposing teams) players.

I remember thinking that the Wood Ducks would be pretty good this season, since I felt like the Rangers had a pretty good farm system.  Meeting the team in March helped us get to know some of them face to face, and we really worked hard in making them feel welcome here in Eastern NC.

We tried to watch their first ever game, an exhibition against Mount Olive College, but it was rained out.  We had to settle for the home opener a week later.

I believe I went to 31 Wood Ducks games this season (27 at home and 4 on the road).  That turned out to be a bunch!

Chris formed friendships with a few of the players, such as Emerson Martinez, who got the win tonight in the game that clinched their share of the league title.

Brett Martin started the game and pitched 2 and 2/3 innings.

I believe we all had a great time this season.  I hate to see it come to a close, but to close it out with a share of the league championship is just amazing.

Even my wife enjoyed going to the games.  Sure, she thought a few of the players looked better than I do, but I'm not worried, she still comes home to me!

I think Chris got more out of this season than anyone, though.  He has forged life-long memories this season.  He was able to go out on the field twice this season.  All of the players recognize him, and are happy to see him when he says hello.

I'm so happy that they won a share of the title.  This has been such a cool season; I can't wait until April, so another season will start.

Labor Day Weekend Graphing The Wood Ducks At Buies Creek

This was a really interesting Labor Day Weekend.  I started the weekend with the plan to go see one game at Buies Creek on Saturday, since Brett Martin was starting that day for the Wood Ducks.  Rain on Friday forced a double header for Saturday, so that changed our plans to catching two games that day.  Leading up to this series, the Wood Ducks had gone on a tear, while the Astros were floundering.  With playoff implications on the line, we set out for Buies Creek Saturday.  I printed off a copy of the photo of Chris with Wood Ducks pitcher, Emerson Martinez, since Emerson had asked for a copy.  We got to Buies Creek early and mistakenly found the locker room door, since I parked in the wrong place.

Kelvin Vasquez was outside and said hello to us.  I asked him if he minded giving the photo to Emerson, since we were right at the door and he wouldn't have to keep up with the photo in the dugout.  Kelvin doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so he went inside and got Emerson.  Emerson thanked Chris and I for the photo and asked me if I had tickets for the game yet.  I didn't, so he put us on "the list" and we got in to the double header for free.

Emerson started the first game, with the Wood Ducks needing to win 3 of the 4 games in the series.  They lost the first game 1-0 in 7 (in the minors, all double header games are 7 innings) on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded.  Brett Martin pitched the second game and the Woodies won 5-2.  They won again on Sunday, 7-3, putting them a half game behind Buies Creek with one to go for the second half title for the Southern Division.  We weren't even going to go to the Sunday game, but Jeremy Moore told Chris that if we came, he would take Chris on the field again.  Chris was able to go on the field, and they even put the catcher's gear on him.  Jeremy took him in the dugout and everyone high-fived Chris and hugged him.  They were really happy to see us.

Today, they won 10-3 and clinched a playoff spot.  It was a really cool feeling to see the guys I have followed all season celebrate clinching, after how poor their record was earlier this season.

One of the best parts of the series was that I got to hang out with a fellow Instagrammer, Jackson, for the duration of the series.  He is a really great guy, and has been following me on there since I got started.

I did do some graphing across the series, and also picked up a Buies Creek team set.

I had gotten Anthony Hermelyn on a few cards earlier this season, but found a few more at the National that I could work on.

I got three different versions of Anthony's 2015 Bowman, and they all turned out great.  He stopped and talked to us each day.

Ronnie Dawson was really friendly, as well.  He was also very funny in the outfield, interacting with the Wood Ducks bullpen.

I got this card of Anibal Sierra taken care of from the Carolina League top prospects set.  He was really nice, but spoke no English.

I also got 10 cards signed from the Buies Creek set.  A lot of the players are no longer with the team, so it;ll be tough getting some of the guys.

Jackson said that Chris Holt was one of the toughest autos to get from Buies Creek, so when I was able to call Holt over on Sunday and get my stuff signed along with Jackson's, he was really happy.

Here are some photos I took during the trip.  Here is Chris being brought back to me from Jeremy Moore.  He loves this team, and is really excited that there is some baseball left to be played this season.

The Astros play at Campbell University, which has an odd field.  Everything is Astro turf, for some reason.

Here are the Wood Ducks celebrating after the final out today.

Some more celebration on the field.

We were able to catch a bit of the celebration as it was unfolding near the locker room.  I didn't want to get too close, since it was roped off.  At one point, one of the players motioned for us to come over, but I stayed put, since I didn't feel it to be right to crash their party.

It was a really cool sight to see all of the guys cutting loose and celebrating.  This has been a really awesome season, especially for it to be an inaugural season for the club.

We did have some players come over to us and shake hands and say hello.  Brett Martin came and chatted a bit, as well as Adam Choplick, Steven Bruce and Ledarious Clark.

I think they wore more of the beer and champagne, than they ingested.  They also had a lot of fun with the water hose.

At one point, Jeremy waved at us, and Chris waved back.  Emerson saw us as well and waved.

The coolest part was our friend Matt, the ballboy/clubbie hooked Jackson and I each up with one champagne bottle.  This is going in my display case, for sure!

This was such a cool series, and I was really glad that I decided to make the trip, especially for today's clincher.  The players seemed legitimately happy to see Chris and I, which made us feel really good.  I got a hug from Emerson Martinez after the second game on Saturday.  Luis La O shook my hand and called me Papi today.  I am so happy for these guys, and I hope they can keep it going.  They begin their series against Myrtle Beach on Wednesday at home, and I will be there.

Graphing a Four-Game Series Between The Wood Ducks and Mudcats

Four-game series are tough for graphing.  It has been tough just having the energy to get done what I need to get done, then get home and prepare for the next game.  I took on several 50/50s for this series between the Mudcats and Wood Ducks, then added on a few cards later on when I realized one of the roving instructors was a former major leaguer, and when I saw that the Wood Ducks finalls had the Carolina League Top Prospects sets in.

I went into the series with the hope that I could get everything that I had signed, but a few players were limiting autos, so it was difficult in getting everything done.  I did get some nice cards from Trent Clark, like the Team USA ones above.

Clark apparently has begun to limit what he signs, so I had to be strategic in what I wanted to get, and when I tried to get it.  He was friendly enough, and stopped to talk with Chris and I every game.

I knew going into the series that Monte Harrison would be a tough sign, and he was.  He would only sign one card per person, so by the third game, I was only putting one card in my book that I absolutely wanted.

Luckily, I pretty much covered all of the 50/50 commitments that I made.  I ended up with some nice ones, though, so I am happy.

I was especially glad to be able to get this 2013 Perfect Game card signed, since I pulled it out of a pack.

Corey Ray was really nice, as always.  I had some great cards of him, so I was happy when I completed everything of him by the third day.  I even took a card for a friend while I was there and got it signed as well.

Ray was the only current Mudcat in the prospects set.  They are nice cards, so I was happy to be able to go ahead and get his out of the way and into my album.

I had a lot of Medeiros cards, and a lot for the 50/50s.  I got all but two of the cards signed.

These draft board cards turned out really nice.  I ended up with a couple extra, so Chris was glad to get one.  He thought they were pretty cool, too.

I had gotten Medeiros back earlier in the season, but I couldn't remember what I had gotten, so I just went with what was in my stack.  I think I did pretty well.

Isan DIaz was on the DL with a wrist injury, but still traveled with the team.  He was one of the few players who (along with Ray) signed everything on our pages.

I had a lot of different stuff of Diaz, and I also was able to chat with him a bit while he was signing each game.

I found the black parallel Bowman of Marcos Diplan at the card shop right before the series started.  I thought I had more of his cards, but that was it, with the exception of the Mudcats team set I had picked up on July 4th.

Both Lucas Erceg and Cody Ponce were really nice.  They stopped and talked to us each game, whether we had anything for them to sign or not.

Trey Supak was really quiet, but friendly.  He signed everything we had on our pages, and the cards turned out really nice.  I was also glad that the Heritage Minors got signed, since I pulled it from a pack the Sunday before the series started.

 Speaking of my Mudcats team set, I knocked out a ton of the cards during this series.

Chris also got the same ones from his set signed.  We even were able to get most of the trainers and coaches, which can be tough.

The cards are super glossy, but they all turned out really well.

I think I got my money's worth out of the set.

Speaking of sets, I got my first Wood Ducks cards!  These are the only three in existence right now, since Brett Martin, Josh Morgan and Jonathan Hernandez are the only ones listed in the 2017 Carolina League Top Prospects set.  I think I was at the game where Hernandez is pitching.  I wish the Wood Ducks would have came out with sets this year, but for some dumb reason, they aren't.

I missed out on HoJo quite a bit during this series, but finally got him the last two games.  I have most of his cards signed now, so it is all really just taking care of 50/50s for him.

Finally, I learned that Dwaye Murphy is a roving instructor for the Rangers, and he was with the team this week.  Chris and I were able to get him on three cards, including a 1987 Topps.  I really like the colors on that one, and it adds to my Topps Project.

I have one more series that I am for sure taking in, Lynchburg next weekend.  I have no idea how I am going to be able to stand the offseason, but I likely will be spending it reloading and relaxing in anticipation of the 2018 minor league season.