April 1, 2025, Graphing of CENSORED at Crawdads

The bitterness is still fresh and the feelings remain raw, but I got over myself a little bit and saw the first ever Hub City Spartanburgers game when they took on the Hickory Crawdads in an exhibition game on Tuesday.  By the end of the game, I felt a lot better. Many of the former Down East Wood Ducks recognized me and acknowledged my feelings about the team folding.  One of the players who took the time to ask how I was doing and thank me for making the trip was Anthony Gutierrez.  Anthony is (by far) the single player who has signed the most cards for me.  Yes, I counted.  Anthony signed for me with no problem and was just super cool.  I was so glad to see him again.

Brock Porter was another guy who made sure to shake my hand and ask how i was doing.  Gleider Figuereo and Danyer Cueva also recognized Jesse and I as we were graping, and signed what we had.  I was glad to get the final Wood Ducks cards, my Figuereo and Cueva 2024 Topps Pro Debut. Pablo Guerrero also recognized us, which was really cool.  I'm glad he was included in 2024 Bowman Draft.

I googled Dalton Oence images, looked at them, looked up and immediately recognized him.  I was impressed that I recognized him and got this UNC card signed.

Another cool thing about the game is that I got to see my buddy Dugan at work.  He's the analytics guy for the Spartanburgers.  I've known Dugan since he was 14, having met him at a card show way back then.  Im really proud of him and am happy to see him living his dream by working in baseball.

In all, we got the following autographs: Pablo Guerrero x 3, Dalton Pence x 1, Brock Porter x 3, Casey Cook x 3, Danyer Cueva x 3, Dylan Dreiling x 1, Gleider Figuereo x 3 and Anthony Gutierrez x 8 (25 total autographs).

April 16-20, 2024, Graphing of the Shorebirds at Wood Ducks

This week's graphing of the Delmarva Shorebirds at the Wood Ducks was pretty much over right after the game on Tuesday.  I missed Wednesday since it was an 11AM game and Thursday was Chris's senior night for tennis.  With today's rain out, I only graohed three games of the series.  I also missed my friend, Ryan's cards because I put them in the wrong pile. 

The above 2022 Bowman Chrome ray wave parallel of Danyer Cueva was picked up at the National last year but ended up in a random box that I finally went through last week. It is finally signed and in the album. 

Delmarva had several guys with cards, however all but two of them were on the IL and didnt make the trip.  Jacob Cravey was really nice and signed everything I had.  A fellow graoher gave me the 2023 Bowman Chrome mojo Anderson De Los Santos so i could get him done, which was nice.

The Rangers had sent several rovers out to the park this week with Kenny Holmberg, Roy Silver and Matt Magill coming into town.  I was able to get a couple Silver cards in before the series ended.  I realized who Matt Magill was (by asking around; I'm not THAT good), and found two cards in my collection to get done.

My friend, Gerard hooked me up with this nice Marcus Smith Bowman Heritage gold parallel.  It's a pretty sweet card and looks great.

Alejandro Rosario made his professional debut for the Wood Ducks and went 4 innings with no runs allowed and 7 strike outs.  His fa.ily was there and we're really nice.  I was able to chat with his mom pre-game.

The highlight of Friday's game was when, around the 7th inning or so (I was talking and lost track), Jon (the Wood Ducks GM) came by where we were sitting and asked me to get up.  I had no idea why, but I got up and he said "we are honoring you for Season Ticket Holder Appreciation".

I was given a certificate, team signed baseball and a "golden" Bill Ellis bobble head.  Jon also gave me his hat, which was the Wood Ducks first Copa hat, the Patos Joyuyous.  I never got one for myself and had asked Jon if there were any more that he could find; I'd buy one.  He gave me his, instead, when he realized we wore the same hat size.

They also took a photo of me with Jon and DEWD.  I haven't seen the photo yet, but am excited to see how it turned out.  I was blown away by the gesture and it really meant a lot to me.  I've been very upset that the Woodies are leaving Kinston after this season.  I am so thankful that they took the time to recognize me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 4, Marcus Smith x 1, Jacob Cravey x 9, Julian Brock x 1, Gleider Figuereo x 1, Alberto Mota x 1, Alejandro Rosario x 2, Roy Silver x 2, Matt Magill x 2 and Anderson De Los Santos x 1 (24 total autographs).

September 5-10, 2023, Graphing of Greenjackets at Wood Ducks

The last regular season homestand brought the Augusta Greenjackets to Grainger Stadium.  I had seen Augusta back in April, so I didn't have a whole lot to get signed during the week.  I still had a few Danyer Cueva cards, so I let my friend, Josh, use his green paint pen on one of them to see how it would look.  It turned out nicely.

Ambioris Tavarez was one guy I missed while I was in Augusta, so I was glad to get a few of his cards done.  I finished him off quickly by the time the second game came around.

I had several guys that were in the team set that I needed, so those got done.

There were only a few guys in the team set who had been moved around or released, so it was nice to be able to get as many guys as I did.

Finally, I got this cool photo signed by CJ Widger that my friend, Jimmy, took.  I had given CJ a few cards of his dad, Chris.

In all, I got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 11, Gleider Figuereo x 5, Anthony Gutierrez x 2, Jeremy Celedonio x 1, Nick Clarno x 1, Tyler Collins x 1, Francisco Diaz x 1, EJ Exposito x 1, Jason Franks x 1, Landon Harper x 1, Seth Keller x 1, Nolan Martinez x 3, Connor Narron x 3, Adam Shoemaker x 1, Ambioris Tavarez x 10, Jojo Blackmon x 1, Nick Janssen x 1, Dylan MacLean x 4, Ian Moller x 1, Jesus Moreno x 1, Alberto Mota x 1, Konner Piotto x 1, Brock Porter x 1, Brian Pozos x 1, Henrik Reinertsen x 1, Adrian Rodriguez x 1, Ruben Sosa x 1, Julio Valdez x 1, Miguel Villaroel x 1, Chad Bryant x 1, Drew Compton x 1, Cody Gabella x 1, Wes McGuire x 1, Carlos Maldonaldo x 1, Damian Mendoza x 1, Joseph Montalvo x 1, Leandro Lopez x 1, Neal Ori x 1, DJ McCarty x 1, Ryan Straney x 1, DEWD x 1, Luis Ramirez x 1, CJ Widger x 1 and Quincy Scott x 1 (75 total autographs).

August 22-27, 2023, Graphing of the Peckers at Woodies

The next-to-last regular season home series for the Wood Ducks was against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, who had come to Kinston earlier in the season.  I didn't have much new stuff, other than some cards I got from the National.

Tyler Whitaler had been moved up to High A the day before the series started, so I didn't have a whole lot to work on for the series.

I got my cards signed that i picked up from the National, like the Andrew Taylor 2022 Panini Prizm Draft blue parallel, his 2022 Elite Extra Edition; Dauri Lorenzo's 2022 Bowman Heritage, and a couple Trey Dombroski Elite Extra Edition.

I experimented with some paint markers that I had in my desk from years ago when Chris was in Cub Scouts. The metallic blue and metallic purple turned out nicely on these two Danyer Cuevas cards.

Finally. I tried the metallic blue on this 2022 Topps Pro Debut of Dauri Lorenzo.

In all, I got the following autographs: Anthony Gutierrez x 32, Dylan MacLean x 1, Trey Dombroski x 2, Dauri Lorenzo x 31, Andrew Taylor x 2, Danyer Cueva x 14, Carlos Maldonaldo x 1, Jose Fleury x 1, Cam Fisher x 2, Gleider Figuereo x 14 and Dylan MacLean x 1 (101 total autographs).

May 16-20, 2023, Graphing of the Peckers at Woodies

This week, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers came into town and I got a few cards signed. I missed the Wednesday game since it was the last education day/11am start, caught the double header on Saturday, and skipped today, since I didn't have much else to get signed.  I got some 50/50s in for some new folks, one of which gave me some nice parallels.  The above 2021 Panini Prizm Draft green parallel of Cam Cauley turned out nicely. 

He also gave me a coupke Bowman Sapphire parallels that look really cool.  The 2023 Bowman Anthony Gutierrez refractor was also a gift from him. 

I had been running with this Hickory Crawdads team set card in my slider box for over a year since Sharnol Adriana showed up last season as a roving instructor.  He was here this week, and I finally got this card signed.

I know my friend, Jessie, has the Bowman Prospects Anthony Gutierrez for me, but it was also sent to me as a 50/50.  I'll also put Jessie's in the autograph album, since he gifted me the card.

I got several autographs from Dauri Lorenzo.  I missed Tyler Whitaker, who wasn't in uniform at all this series.  I finally saw him yesterday. He said he couldn't write due to a wrist injury, so that pretty much shut me down for today.  Also, the weather forecast wasn't looking great, which is ultimately the reason I didn't go.  I ended up seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which was pretty great.  It was worth taking the day off.

In all, I got the following autographs: Sharnol Adriana x 1, Cam Cauley x 12, Danyer Cueva x 5, Gleider Figuereo x 5, Anthony Gutierrez x 12, Andres Mesa x 3, Yeison Morrobel x 3, Nolan DeVos x 2, Dauri Lorenzo x 18, Andrew Taylor x 1, Ian Moller x 2, Luis Ramirez x 1, Trey Dombroski x 1 and DEWD x 1 (67 total autographs).

April 18-23 2023, Graphing of Mudcats at Wood Ducks

This past week, the Mudcats visited historic Grainger Stadium to take on the Wood Ducks for a 6-game series.  The Wood Ducks lost the series 1-5, which was pretty rough.  I got to 5 of the 6 games, with Wednesday being an Education Day, with an 11am start.  I missed that one since I had to work.

I got in everything I had ordered from Ebay, as well as 11 batches of 50/50s.  I already can tell that I will be cutting down on the number of 50/50s that I take, because this was a mess.  I got everything sorted out and most of it already taken care of, however.  I just have a few loose cards that I was unable to get for folks.  Those will have to wait, unfortunately.

Still, I had a great series, with some helping hands that knocked out a few cards for me, and almost finished off a couple of the Wood Ducks.  I had some really cool cards come in like some of the 2022 Bowman Heritage (bottom left), as well as the blue parallel Anthony Gutierrez (top of post).  I got an Invicta chrome signed by Gutierrez.  That card turned out great.

I had a bunch of Danyer Cueva come in, and he was the first player to start limiting us.  I'll have to ration out the rest of the cards I have of him so I don't burn him out.  I did get the stuff that I ordered taken care of, so that was nice.

I finally got Brock Porter on is Perfect Game card, as well as a few random Woodies that I needed to finish off.  Funny thing I figured out tonight, I still need to get a Yeison Morrobel base chrome signed.  I hae a refractor and a mojo refractor, but not a base chrome.  That's a little strange.

Hedbert Perez was pretty cool.  Last season, he was pretty much one-per, so I was afraid I would be strictly limited on him, but he hit whole pages a few times on this trip.  I have only a handful of his stuff left, and won't be taking any more, so I should be able to finish him off.  He has some nice cards, though, and I was really happy with the ones that got signed.

Jacob Misiorowski was really nice.  He was a strict one-per, but signed for us every time we asked.  I finished off a bunch of cards for folks, so that worked out nicely.  I also got my pack-pulled 2022 Panini Prizm Draft pink parallel signed, which was cool.  I found the above Matthew Wood after the first game, and worked it into the book for Thursday's game and got it signed.

The Perfect Game Chase Costello was given to me by a fellow grapher who was visiting all the way from California.  Costello was really cool, and I was happy to trade the card for one of my extra Danyer cards.  Jheremy Vargas informed us that it wasn't him pictured on the front of his 2022 Heritage Minors card, so he signed the back for us.  This will be an interesting one to look back on in the album years from now.

In all, I got the following autographs: Jojo Blackmon x 2, Cam Cauley x 28, Danyer Cueva x 19, Jeferson Espinal x 3, Anthony Gutierrez x 33, Dylan MacLean x 4, Ian Moller x 16, Yeison Morrobel x 26, Brock Porter x 13, Luis Ramirez x 4, Chase Costello x 1, Jacob Misiorowski x 12, Hedbert Perez x 32, Jheremy Vargas x 7, Gleider Figueroa x 2, Andres Mesa x 2, Carlos Maldonaldo x 2 and Matt Wood x 1 (209 total autographs).

April 2023 Graphing of Wood Ducks Opening Week

Finally, the Wood Ducks are back in action, and I did a little bit of graphing last week.  Beginning with the Wood Ducks exhibition game against Mount Olive College, followed by the open practice/meet the team event for season ticket holders, and culminating with a shortened series against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, I got a decent amount of stuff signed.

The exhibition game was tough, since rosters weren't posted yet.  I still got some stuff signed.  The meet the team event was equally as difficult, since they didn't post the players names where they were sitting.  So, there was a lot of "What's your name?" going on.  I was able to get these four Carlos Maldonado cards signed that I had been holding onto since the 2018 season.  I had missed him on that team set, since he was sent to coach in Arizona (I think) halfway through the season.

I had held these Jeferson Espinal cards in my snap case for the bulk of last season, once I had heard that the Rangers had traded for him.  He never came last year, so I was glad to finally see him on the roster this year.

Some of the guys who have cards now were late-season call ups last year; while a couple who have Perfect Game cards (like Luis Ramirez) are new to the team.  I was able to knock out all of my Bowman stuff by the end of the meet the team event.  I have since moved on to some Ebay pickups and some 50/50s.

Some of the Ebay pickups have been 2022 Bowman Inception cards like the two above Yeison Morrobels.  The cards look awesome, and I have some en route for Danyer Cueva and Anthony Gutierrez.

I also got some of the true returning guys woh got new cards after the season, like Ian Moller and Cam Cauley.  The new Pro Debuts and Heritage Minors cards look great when signed, and I have already finished off what I pulled for the Woodies.

Finally, there weren't ,any guys on Kannapolis that I had cards of, so I was pretty much done with them after the first game.  Peyton Pallette commended on the 2022 Panini Prizm Draft card that I had pulled.  He was really nice, and asked me how I was doing the next time he saw me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Cam Cauley x 5, Danyer Cueva x 8, Yeison Morrobel x 8, Luis Ramirez x 4, Peyton Pallette x 2, Jordan Sprinkle x 9, Jeferson Espinal x 6, Carlos Maldonaldo x 5, Ian Moller x 5, Anthony Gutierrez x 4 and we also got a ball signed by the entire team, Anthony Gutierrez x 3 (54 total autographs on cards; I'm not counting the ball).