Cody Freeman to the Show

The 2021 Down East Wood Ducks season was a special one.  That team was amazing, and Chris and I followed the team to the championship series in Charleston.  That was the season where I also found a connection with one of their players, Cody Freeman.  Cody was always the first player out of the clubhouse that season, and would always walk up to us before each game and ask us how we were doing.  The second game of the season, he walked over and asked if we would be coming to every game; he had seen us the day before at the first game.  We said yes, and he introduced himself.

Months later, Cody spotted me in the Greenville airport as I was on my way to the National.  He was on his way to rehab an injury in Arizona.  He sat beside me in the airplane to Charlotte (ugh those masks!) and we bonded.  Cody was and is such an awesome guy.  Today, as I was eating dinner and watching a movie, I got a text from Jesse telling me that Cody had been called up to the Show!  I have been waiting for this day since 2021.  Cody is MY GUY and I can say that I have followed his career since Low A.

He got the call to the Show.  I'm not crying, you're crying.  I am so happy to see him make it.  It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.  I am really proud to be a fan!  Go get em, Cody!!!!

TTM Success - Abimelec Ortiz

A former Wood Duck signed two cards TTM for me via Rangers Spring Training.  I had these two Abimelec Ortiz cards pulled and hoped to get them signed.  I was glad to see them come back after a short wait.

I was happy to see Abi get a few cards after the great season he had last year.  His 2024 Pro Debut (above) is a really cool one. 

Ortiz (b. 2002) was an undrafted free agent picked up by the Rangers in 2021.  He has played in their system since then, reaching AA.  He has 368 hits, 83 home runs and a .248 batting average. 

I mailed to Ortiz on February 13 and got the cards back on March 31 for a 46-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tyler Phillips

My next Spring Training TTM success to come in was this signed 2025 Topps from former Wood Duck, Tyler Phillips.

Phillips (b. 1997) has played in the majors since last season for the Phillies and Marlins.  He currently has a career record of 5-1 with 48 strike outs and a 5.63 ERA.

He was a Wood Duck in 2018 and 2019.  I really thought he was there at the end of the 2017 season, but it must have been 2018.

I mailed to Phillips via Phillies Spring Training on February 14 and got the card back on March 3 for a 17-day TAT. 

Consignment Autos From Loc

My friend Loc took a few cards from me to get signed at Frisco.  He helped me get my 2024 Down East Wood Ducks team setndown to one card when he got this one signed by Ryan Lobus.  I still need Luis Valdez, who has been hurt since early last season.  Hopefully he will be back on a team soon.

Loc also got these two Trey Supak team set cards done.  I had two each of these scattered across several boxes.  He got three of the four signed, so that last one will have to get done another time.

He also got a 2022 Heritage Minors Aaron Zavala signed for me, which was great.  I reappy appreciated Loc helping me out and getting these cards out of the boxes.

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).

2024 National Paid Signer - Omar Vizquel

Back to the National for a moment, I paid to meet Omar Vizquel and finally get this photo signed of he and Chris at the last game of the Wood Ducks 2018 season.

I could have sent the photo to a private signing, but I wanted to see him sign it in person and hope for any kind of reaction.

I did get a reaction, which was cool.  He saw it and said "this looks familiar..." and laughed.  He then showed the picture to his handler, which was cool.  The signature looks cool in gold Sharpie.

I appreciated Vizquel coming to the National and signing.  His price wasn't too bad, which helped. I've now framed the picture and put it on my wall in my home office room.

September 3-8, 2024, Graphing of the Green Jackets at Wood Ducks

My emotions are still raw regarding the Wood Ducks finally being done in Kinston for good.  So, instead, I'll discuss the graphing results of the final home series and then weigh in later on about the Wood Ducks exit.

Since we saw that Brock Porter was back with the Woodies to close out the season, I ordered some Bowman parallels to get signed.  My favorite was the above lunar crater parallel.  These parallels look so good, in my opinion. 

I also picked up a lunar glow (left), lava refractor (middle) and a Bowman Chrome (right).  I'm glad they got here in time before the series ended.

My Pro Debut boxes came in Saturday, as I was leaving for the game, so I had to bust the boxes Saturday night when I got home and got a Luis Guanipa signed on Sunday for my first signed 2024 Pro Debut. 

Titus Dumitru is on the Braves 1994 Score that I had brought for one of the Braves top draft picks (who turned out to not have traveled with the team).  Titus was really cool, so it was easy to pick him to sign the card.

I finished off every Luis Guanipa that I had, as well as every 50/50.  Guanipa was the only prospect with mainstream cards who traveled with the team.

Augusta's coaches all had cards.  I had gotten Wynston Sawyer before, so I was out of his stuff.  Connor Justus and Elvin Nina had a couple cards, and I finished all of them off.

Einar Diaz had a ton of cards, and I took a 50/50 on him.   I got everything done, which was great.

Finally, Roy Silver showed up so (in his words) he could see Grainger Stadium one more time.  He is a really nice guy, and I was glad to see him one more time.  The Allen and Ginter Silver card was a nice touch to get signed by Roy.  I had found the card in a box and Jesse came up with the idea to try to get it signed by Roy Silver.  Silver liked the idea and had no problem signing it for me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Brock Porter x 9, Roy Silver x 4, Einar Diaz x 18, Luis Guanipa x 33, Connor Justus x 11, Kadon Morton x 1, Titus Dumitru x 1, Elvin Nina x 2, Anthony Susac x 1 and Pablo Guerrero x 1 (81 total autographs). 

August 20-25, 2024 Shorebirds at Wood Ducks

A better series for the Wood Ducks came along when Delmarva was in town.  The weather was beautiful, and my good friend, Ryan, came down to enjoy the Saturday and Sunday games.

Ryan hooked me up with some nice 2024 Stars and Stripes cards.  They came in handy, as there were several guys with the Shorebirds who had them.  Also, during the series, the Orioles sent their first round draft pick, Vance Honeycutt, up to Delmarva.

I got Honeycutt on his debut ticket, a ball and a photo.  I had already put all of them up before I started the scans for this post.  Oops.  I also saw this weekend that Honeycutt has already been moved up to Aberdeen.

The Wood Ducks also have some 2024 Draft picks on their team, now.  Anthony Susac and Casey Cook both have Perfect Game cards.  We were also surprised that Brock Porter was back with the Wood Ducks. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Casey Cook x 8, Pablo Guerrero x 9, Maikol Hernandez x 33, Braylin Tavera x 3, Anthony Susac x 1, Vance Honeycutt x 4, Brock Porter x 1, Jon Clemmons x 1, Griff O'Ferrall x 6, Austin Overn x 1, Ryan Stafford x 2 and Ethan Anderson x 1 (70).

August 6-11, 2024, Pelicans at Wood Ducks

While I've been posting the National signings, I let some IP graphing pile up.  The Myrtle Beach series at the Wood Ducks wasn't much of a series at all.  Tropical Storm Debby came through and washed out all but maybe a game and a half.

I still got a decent amount of cards signed.  I was disappointed that I didn't get Christian Hernandez on more stuff.  I had a ton.

Nazier Mule was pretty cool.  He was from near the same area of New Jersey that my family lived in a long time ago. 

I was able to get the Wood Ducks team set down to two guys after I finally got Jesus Moreno.  I had a couple other old ream set cards I got done by Tyler Schlaffer and Buddy Bailey.

In all, I got the following autographs: Alberto Mota x 1, Ryan Straney x 2, Drew Bowser x 4, Alexis Hernandez x 5, Cristian Hernandez x 2, Nazier Mule x 15, Tyler Schlaffer x 1, Carter Trice x 3, Julian Brock x 2, DEWD x 2, Jesus Moreno x 3, Brian Pozos x 1, Justin Sanchez x 4, Thomas St Clair x 2, Michael Thiele x 2 and Buddy Bailey x 2 (51 total autographs). 

July 9-14, 2024, Graphing of the Salem Red Sox at Wood Ducks

With our vacation ending, it was time to head back to Grainger Stadium to see the Wood Ducks take on the Salem Red Sox. I had pre-prepped a while back foe this series, so it wasn't as hard on me to get ready prior to Tuesday's game.

I picked up some cards off of Ebay right when coaches were revealed, so I had a couple nice cards to get signed by Ozzie Chavez.  This 2003 Bowman Heritage turned out great. I love this design, and was happy to get it added to the autograph album. 

The Red Sox were a bit tough all series, with no numbers on the front and most guys limiting.  Add in that there was a lot of rain and missed opportunities.  Still we did decently.  I finished off everything I had for Brooks Brannon.  Brooks is an amazing guy, who stopped and talked with us every game.  I am a fan now and plan to add some of his certified stuff to the collection at the National. 

Nazzan Zanetello signed for us most of the time.  He was pretty strict limiting his signing to post-game only.  The one day he didn't sign was after a tough Salem loss, so that was understandable.

Finally, I added two more team set cards to the album now that Danyer Cueva and Alberto Mota are back.  I also added this nice pink foil parallel of Danyer's 2023 Topps Pro Debut that Gerard gave me.

My buddy, Max sent me an assortment of James Jones cards recently, and Jones was here for this series.  I got Max's stuff done, as well as my Frisco team set cards.  James is a great guy and seems to be flourishing in his rover role this season.

The highlight of the series was that the Wood Ducks won the second game of Saturday's double header by spinning a combined no hitter.  I got Jesse's ticket stub signed by the Billy Waters Player(s) of the game (brought to you by Mount Olive Pickles): Julian Brock (catcher), Izack Tiger (starter) and Adonis Villavicencio (reliever).

Adonis's hands were still shaking when he signed the ticket and this ball for me.  I found the ball pre-game ad I walked into the park.  It is a beat up batting practice ball, but it still is cool that I was able to commemorate the occasion.

We don't get many nice things in Kinston, so it was awesome that we got to witness a no hitter in person.

In all, we got the following autographs: Tonight's graphing recap of the Red Sox at Wood Ducks: Danyer Cueva x 6, Alberto Mota x 3, James Jones x 20, Brooks Brannon x 23, Nazzan Zanetello x 9, Jojo Blackmon x 1, Carlos Maldonado x 1, Tommy Specht x 2, Antonio Anderson x 3, Ozzie Chavez x 2, Daniel McElveny x 1, Izack Tiger x 4, Adonis Villaviceno x 2, Julian Brock x 2, Paul Bonzagni x 2, Ivan Oviedo x 1, Josh Trentadue x 2, Fraymi De Leon x 8 and Freili Encarnacion x 3 (95 total autographs). 

June 11-16, 2024, Graphing of the Riverdogs at Wood Ducks

Another series is in the books at the Wood Ducks as they inch their way toward their final game at Grainger Stadium. Arch rivals (I said it), the Charleston Riverdogs came into town for a 6-game set. The series had me go after 4 different Charleston guys, and I came really close to running out of stuff to get done by Sunday.  This was also without a good bit of help all week.

Chris was only able to accompany me to one game, and Jesse was only able to make a couple. I spent a few of the games sitting by myself for a good bit, but it was kind of relaxing.  I resigned myself to the fact that I may not get a lot done, then still finished off a couple guys.

Adrian Santana was super nice, as well as TJ Nichols.  Carlos Colmenarez (rightfully so) got tired of seeing me, so I stopped trying for him by Saturday.  The Wednesday game was a camp day, so Chris went with Jesse since I had to work.  I didn't send him with any cards to that one.  The Wood Ducks played Charleston well; they won the series 4-2, with three walkoff wins in a row.  It was a nice week, honestly.

Finally, Jojo Blackmon came back off of the IL, so I got another team set card out of the way.

In all, we got the following autographs: (Carlos Colmenarez x 16, TJ Nichols x 18, Jojo Blackmon x 3, Alejandro Rosario x 1, Chris Villamon x 3 and Adrian Santana x 33 (74 total autographs). 

May 31-June 2, 2024 Graphing of the Nationals at Wood Ducks

After missing Tuesday through Thursday last week due to a work trip, I went into the weekend with lowered expectations about how I would do with graphing the Fredericksburg Nationals at Wood Ducks. Couple that with my main helpers all pretty much being unavailable for the bulk of the series, I definitely didn't knock out what I normally would have.  Thankfully, Jesse and I planned ahead for my time away, and he helped me knock out a few cards.  He wasn't here this weekend; Chris also went without me on Wednesday and also helped knock some stuff out.  I'm glad they could help!

Jesse hit two of the guys I didnt get at all in Armando Cruz and Christian Vaquero.  Neither of those guys stopped for me at all between Friday and Sunday, so these three cards from Jesse were special. 

Brenner Cox was very consistent while I was there; he did one per every time he stopped, so with a little help from my friend, Josh, along with Chris, we got a few of Cox's cards handled.

Mason Denaburg signed the four cards i had on Friday, but refused to stop for us the rest of the weekend. I had one card remaining, and had hoped that he'd sign for Chris on Sunday.  He didn't. Oh well, no big deal, i just wanted to get the card out of my box.

Jake Lowery's body language told a story about how he didn't seem to want to be in Kinston.  He just kind of shuffled down the line as he made his way to his dugout each game.  When he stopped to sign, he didn't say much at all.  Jarlin Susana was cool, though.  He signed every time I asked, which was nice enough. 

Roismar Quintana stopped every time we asked, and signed every card we had, so he was the best of the bunch.  

After being refused again by Vaquero and Cruz as they exited the field on Sunday, I decided it wasn't worth trying to get either outside after the game.  I dumped their cards into the Box Of Shame, and probably won't pursue them again.  Oh well.  It doesn't hurt my feelings.

I was able to knock out a few more Wood Ducks team set cards in Michael Thiele, Bryan Magdaleno and David Davalillo.  I'm down to injured guys, demoted guys and a couple Hickory guys to finish off this set.

With all the annoyances of Nationals guys who didn't care to stop at all, I have to mention one of my favorite guys I've come across at the Wood Ducks; Rangers roving instructor, Kenny Holmberg. He is such a great guy.  He made up for the Nats guys being turds.  He talked with me for a whole inning about some scouting reports on guys in the organization and also asked me a lot of collecting questions, which was cool. I'm going to miss seeing him when the Woodies leave after this season. 

It ended up being a decent series; in all, I got the following autographs (this doesn't include the stuff Chris and Jesse got for me while I was gone): David Davalillo x 3, Kenny Holmberg x 2, Bryan Magdaleno x 3, Michael Thiele x 3, Brenner Cox x 10, Mason Denaburg x 4, Elijah Green x 5, Jake Lowery x 2, Roismar Quintana x 10, Jarlin Susana x 20, Travis Syorka x 3 and Samuel Vasquez x 1 (66 total autographs). 

May 14-19, 2024 Graphing of the Mudcats at Wood Ducks

Last week, the Wood Ducks returned to Kinston after two weeks away to face the Mudcats.  The Mudcats have very few guys with cards, but I was able to rack anyway, since the Woodies had their team set come out on Saturday and my boxes of 2024 Bowman came in on Wednesday. 

I planned ahead and picked up a couple Josh Knoth 2023 Leaf Vivid cards.  Another was supposed to come in, but didn't get here in time. The card at the top of the page is a 1/+, which is cool.  Both of the Knoth cards scanned great.

I also got my first 2024 Bowman cards signed by Cooper Pratt.

Yhoswar Garcia was tough; he refused to sign for us a couple time.  When he did stop (finally), he his everything we had.  He probably got tired of seeing me.  Oh well, his stuff is completely done, so I won't have to bother him anymore. 

Finally, the Wood Ducks team set came out earlier than ever.  It was given out as a promotional giveaway this season.  Since the team is leaving after this season, they didn't want to get stuck with a bunch in a closet somewhere. 

The set looks nice.  It rained on Saturday, but I was able to get in and get our sets prior to the game being called.  It set up a double header for Sunday, and they were giving sets out again.  All told, I ended up with 6 of them.

The 6 sets are pretty much spoken for: one for me to get signed, one for me to keep unsigned and load into the Wood Ducks album, one for Chris, one for Gerard, one for Charlie and one for any of my group that may have missed the giveaway.

The double header on Sunday gave me 4 chances to knock cards off of the list.  I almost got everyone, save for a couple pitchers.  There are a few who have already moved up to Hickory, a couple injured guys and a couple who were bumped down to Arizona.

I also got this Bowman Heritage of Marcu Smith signed for Gerard, but he let me keep it.

The Woodies won the series 4-2, which was great, since the Mudcats always play them tough.

In all, we got the following autographs: Alejandro Rosario x 3, Josh Knoth x 4, Cooper Pratt x 6, Yophery Rodriguez x 2, Paul Bonzagni x 3, Willian Bormie x 3, Julian Brock x 3, Jorge Cortes x 3, Kolton Curtis x 3, DEWD x 3, Arturo Disla x 3, Kohl Drake x 3, Buddy Fultz x 3, Jose Gonzalez x 3, Wes Hunt x 3, Gleider Figuereo x 4, Kyle Larsen x 3, Jesus Lopez x 5, Carlos Maldonaldo x 3, Case Matter x 3, Wady Mendez x 3, Brayan Memdoza x 3, Danny Mendoza x 3, Chandler Pollard x 3, Brian Pozos x 3, Thomas St. Clair x 3, Justin Sanchez x 3, Luke Savage x 3, Marcus Smith x 4, Tommy Specht x 3, Marcos Torres x 5, Ryan Straney x 3, Josh Trentadue x 3, Echedry Vargas x 5, Kai-Noa Wynyard x 3, Juan Baez x 2, Yhoswar Garcia x 32 and Bishop Letson x 2 (152 total autographs).