August 29, 2026, Graphing of the Tides at Bulls

The Norfolk Tides were back in Durham two weeks ago. Jesse and I went that Saturday to try and see a couple Orioles who were on rehab. Felix Bautista was the big (pun intended) target for us. Bautista is coming back from his second major surgery (shoulder). He was actually the first player we got when we got inside the ballpark. I was glad to get a 2026 Topps done.

He also signed a 2024 Topps. We almost finished all of the Enrique Bradfield cards that I had. I finally got Juaron Watts-Brown and Payton Eeles. I jad cards put aside for them for a little while now. I also got Yaramil Hiraldo on a 2025 Topps Update.

We finally got Heston Ljerstad at a game. He's usually pretty tough, but came right over for us. I finally got my 2024 Norfolk team set cards done of Kjerstad and Albert Suarez.

It was a nice surprise to get Joe Boyle. He was in a good mood for once, so my team set card from last year got done. I had picked up several Oliver Dunn cards at the National, and they all got signed, so I'm out of him again. Jake Fraley was down in Durham on rehab, so Jesse and I got him, as well. Mason Englert was in a hurry, but stopped for me and signed my negative parallel. He's such a great guy, and I'm always glad to get him.

Finally, I got two more cards from the National done (the 2023 Topps Chrome refractor of Michael Grove, and the 2023 Topps Chrome negative parallel of Blake Sabol). I also had no shame in asking the handler of Champ the Bat Dog to sign his team set card. 

In all, we got the following autographs: Silas Ardoin x 4, Felix Bautista x 2, Enrique Bradfield x 5, Juaron Watts-Brown x 7, Payton Eeles x 1, Jud Fabian x 2, Yaramil Hiraldo x 1, Heston Kjerstad x 2, Albert Suarez x 2, Jeff Ware x 1 and Yosver Zulueta x 2, Joe Boyle x 2, Keoni Derenne x 2, Oliver Dunn x 11, Mason Englert x 1, Jake Fraley x 2, Michael Grove x 2, Blake Sabol x 3 and Champ the Bat Dog('s handler) x 2 (54 total autographs). 

June 20, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

On Saturday, Jesse and I made the trip to Durham to try and get a few more Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp out of my boxes. We also wanted to get more Durham Bulls done as well, but it was a tough night, since there weren't many people there graphing who knew the faces of players on either side.

Still, we did really well. We were able to get a couple guys on rehab, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. We also got Karson Milbrandt, who wasn't with Jacksonville the last time they came.

We missed most of the Durham guys we needed, but it was ok, we had a good time and will head back up there soon.

Something sweet happened to me, too. I was wearing my Alien Face hugger shirt that says "Free Hugs" that Mal got me a while back. A woman walked by us as we were graphing outside and saw it and said "I'm going to put your shirt to the test." Of course, I had forgotten what shirt I was even wearing, and as I realized "oh yeah, that shirt", she had pulled her little boy aside and told him to read it. He read it out loud "Free Hugs... oh!" and threw himself at me, much like my niece Ada does. It made my night. Little guy was probably her age, 4 or so. It was a pretty cool moment. All I could say was "Aww, thank you buddy".

In all, we got the following autographs: Griffin Conine x 2, Braxton Garrett x 5, Karson Milbrandt x 7, Gage Miller x 9, Graham Pauley x 3, Jared Serna x 11, Josh White x 1, Henry Bonilla x 2, Mason Englert x 1 and Cooper Kinney x 4 (45 total autographs).

June 6, 2026, Graphing of the Knights at Bulls

Yesterday, Jesse and I made another trip to Durham, this time to see Charlotte. I hadn't seen the Knights in a long time, so it was nice to get some White Sox guys into my autograph album. 

Scott Aldred helped me get some older Topps cards out of my boxes. The 1992 Topps gold turned out great. I was also glad to finally get Dustin Harris on something other than team set cards.

Chad Pinder was one of the best "gets" we got. I had been told that he would be one per, but he did almost whole pages for us.

I had pulled almost every Pinder card I had last season when he was managing Kannapolis. I missed him, and had to dump his cards into the Box-of-Shame. 

It was nice to get almost all of his cards done. Now they don't have to go back in the box.

Hagen Smith was another guy who almost signed everything we had. I think I have one extra card of his left. Jesse impressed everyone when he was the only person who was able to get Everson Pereira to sign. He only signed for Jesse, but it was cool.

Finally, I chipped away at the Bulls team set. I also got a handful of other cards signed by the Bulls guys.

I was kind of disappointed that a good many Knights guys were on the IL. I have a lot of stuff left over. 

In all, we got the following autographs: Scott Aldred x 4, Dru Baker x 4, Dustin Harris x 4, Braden Montgomery x 2, Ben Peoples x 1, Everson Pereira x 1, Chad Pinder x 16, Hagen Smith x 10, Reid Brignac x 2, Bryan Broecker x 2, Michael Grove x 1, Brody Hopkins x 2, Cooper Kinney x 3, Austin Slater x 2, Chase Solesky x 2 and Owen Wild x 2 (58 total autographs).

May 23, 2026, Graphing of the Nashville Sounds at Durham Bulls

Last night, I flew solo and went to Durham to catch the Nashville Sounds while they were in town. I was afraid the weekend would be a washout, weather-wise, but all we got were cooler temperatures and some fog.

I was prepared for a pretty stacked roster, and did fairly well on my own. With all the one per guys, it would have been nice to have another pair of hands with me to help, but it's all good, since Nashville visits Durham again in August, and they will be in Norfolk too.

I finally got JB Bukauskus, a guy that I've missed so many times. That Greg Jojes card at the middle of the bottom row is actually a foil card; the scan makes it look like it is a base card.

The Nashville guys were pretty nice, for the most part. I got ignored by Junior Fernandez, which sucked because I had a really cool red foil Topps Fire card I wanted to get signed. I really liked the foil card I picked up of Drew Rom (bottom, far right). He's a really cool guy, and always seems happy to sign.

I dod get several of the Brewers' top guys, like Jett Williams, Cooper Pratt and Brock Wilken. Tyler Thornburg didn't seem all that happy to sign, but he did. It was nice seeing a 2010 Bowman show up in my recap.

I also chipped away at the Durham Bulls team set. I got a couple of the staff guys, and also Raynel Delgado and Evan Reifert.

I also had no shame in getting Wool E Bull again.

I graphed alongside an older guy named Bo who sat with me during the game. The crowd was light, with most folks scared off by the cloud cover. I did have a great conversation with a kid who had a bunch of questions about graphing toward the end of the game. A nice kid named Judah who was visiting the area from Southern Maryland with his family. I hope they enjoyed Durham and made it home safely.

In all, I got the following autographs: JB Bukauskas x 6, Greg Jones x 2, Reiss Knehr x 1, Luis Lara x 3, Luis Matos x 2, Easton McGee x 2, Ethan Murray x 1, Cooper Pratt x 2, Drew Rom x 2, Jett Williams x 2, Brock Wilken x 2, Tyler Thornburg x 3, Craig Yoho x 1, Raynel Delgado x 2, Mason Englert x 2, Dominic Keegan x 1, Evan Reifert x 2, Dalton Payfer-Lockling x 2, Lucas Grennan x 2, Homer Bush Jr x 2 and Wool E Bull x 2 (50 total autographs).

May 9, 2026, Graphing of Express at Bulls

We were looking forward to Round Rock coming through Durham since the schedule was announced toward the end of the season last year. The graphing was pretty good, but it didn't live up to the hype we had built up. This was mainly because there weren't as many former Wood Ducks as we had hoped. The ones that were there didn't really recognize us, so that was a bit of a bummer.

I got a couple Hickory team set cards signed. This team set was from 2022, so i had been holding onto the Marc Church and Trevor Hauver cards for a while. 

I was the only one of the graohers there on Saturday who got Ryan Brasier. I got him by the bullpen once the game ended. He wouldn't stop for the rest of us outside.

I chipped away at my stack of Nick Prattos that I had pulled a while back. I was glad to pull a bunch of Mason Thompson cards; the 2016 Bowman Draft came from one of the boxes I got in Richmond this winter. I was also surprised that Aaron Zavala signed more than one per. He always was a strict one per back in the day. I was able to get everything I had left of him done, finally.

The Durham team set is already out. That feels really early in the season. I chipped away at sets for Gerard and I. The set looks nice, but was a disorganized mess. I soebt a coupke innings alphabetizing and organizing it into my book.

I got a bunch of the team set taken care of. I'll have to keep working on them through the next couple of times in Durham.

In all, Jesse and I got the following autographs: Dairon Blanco x 3, Ryan Brasier x 2, Jonah Bride x 1, Diego Castillo x 1, Cam Cauley x 2, Marc Church x 1, Trevor Hauver x 4, Michael Helman x 1, Jose Herrera x 1, Richie Martin x 1, Nick Pratto x 9, Trey Supak x 2, Emiliano Teodo x 1, Mason Thompson x 7, Aaron Zavala x 5, Cam Booser x 2, Cooper Bowman x 2, Homer Bush Jr x 5, Carlos Colmenarez x 5, Alex Cook x 2, Luis Guerrero x 2, KC Hunt x 2, Ty Johnson x 2, Dominic Keegan x 1, Cooper Kinney x 4, German Melendez x 2, Brian Reith x 2, Chrystal Rowe x 2, Blake Sabol x 3 and Logan Workman x 2 (79 total autographs).

May 2, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

Last night, Jesse and I headed back to Durham to catch the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. I prepped for the trip over the last couple of weeks. I even took a small box of the cards with me on a work trip to Minnesota and prepped cards in the hotel room.

The Jumbo Shrimp roster was loaded with guys with cards. We got almost everyone we could get, missing a couple guys, and not having cards for a couple others. 

It was really nice seeing Maximo Acosta again. He remembered me from the Wood Ducks and thanked me again for giving him some cards back then. Getting his 2026 Topps card signed was a good choice.

Kemp Alderman was pretty cool. He signed a bunch of our stuff. He joked that he had a $5 fee, but we laughed about it. I had heard that Jacob Berry was a tough get, but he came right over when we asked him. The 2024 Panini Crusade he signed turned out great.

Let's pause a minute to marvel in the awesome signature that Heriberto Hernandez gave us on our 2026 Topps Heritage cards. I could have saved him the trouble and did those myself. We'll, we got ink on the cards and they're in the album. So, his little scribble os what it is.

Deyvison De Los Santos hit a bunch of cards after we were told he hadn't signed much all week.

Jared Eickhoff was pretty cool. He signed for us outside. Joe Mack and Andrew Pintar were one per, but Pete and a kid took two of my Pintars and got them done for me.

Jared Serna was such a nice guy. He signed everything we had. He talked to us for a bit outside while he signed.

I was surprised that Robby Snelling signed everything we had. I was glad that a few of the Jumbo Shrimp guys finished everything I had. I plan to see them again when they come back through later in the season, but if I don't have much left, I may see where else I can go.

Thomas White also signed everything we had for him. I was glad to get his 2025 Pro Debut insert card signed (middle of the top row in the scan above).

We got a select few Durham guys outside. I finally saw Homer Bush, Jr. He has been on their roster for a bit but hasn't been in Durham.

 I saw today that Joe Mack was called up to the Marlins. That was really cool. The game was pretty good. Bradley Blalock struck out 12 in 6 innings, at one point he struck out 7 in a row.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Kemp Alderman x 6, Jesus Bastidas x 2, Jacob Berry x 2, Bradley Blalock x 2, Zach Brzykcy x 2, Jose Ceballos x 2, Deyvison De Los Santos x 12, Jerad Eickhoff x 3, Dax Fulton x 1, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Joe Mack x 2, Zach McCambley x 4, Cody Morissette x 3, Andrew Pintar x 4, Ethan O'Donnell x 2, Jared Serna x 11, Robby Snelling x 8, Luke Terwilliger x 3, Thomas White x 8, Cooper Bowman x 1, Homer Bush Jr x 4, Jonathan Heasley x 4, Trevor Martin x 1 and Blake Sabol x 4 (95 total autographs). 

April 18, 2026, Graphing of the Tides at Bulls

On Saturday, Jesse and I headed to Durham to graph the Norfolk Tides for the first time this season. I had hoped to get a couple Orioles who were on rehab assignments, but Jackson Holliday had been sent to Frederick to reset his rehab stint. The other person I was excited to try and get was Keegan Akin. 

Fast forward to outside after the game, Akin refused to sign saying "Inside only, sorry guys." That's fine that he wants to only sign inside, except he looked right at us beside the bullpen, INSIDE, and couldn't be bothered to come over and sign my one card. The same guy who told me at Orioles Fan Fest years ago that he was not happy to be there. Sorry to put you out, Keegan. Really. I'll never bother you again.

Now, had that been my only experience on Saturday, I might be a bit upset. Thankfully, we got to interact with several other Todes players, and got a bunch of stuff signed.

I was a bit embarrassed that I kept telling Jesse about the snow globe card of Jose Barrero; except that I realized a ways through the day that it is a crystal ball card. Not a snow globe. Oof. We'll, the card is signed and in my album. 

I got a couple nice Panini Enrique Bradfield, Jr. cards signed, which turned out great. I was also glad to get a Christian Encarnacion-Strand 2025 Topps done.

I finally was able to get Jackson Kowar to sign some cards that had been in the Box-of-Shame for a long time. I also love the Cade Povich Topps Now that I got signed. It looks awesome.

I finally got another Willy Vasquez signed for the album. He was a bit tough when he was with Bowling Green. Now he is in the Orioles system, and I cleared out a 2023 Topps Pro Debut. 

The card above that, though, is a 2021 Topps Heritage Astros Rookie Stars card that I got signed by Enoli Paredes. I had gotten him last year when he was with Gwinnett, but failed to pull everything that I had. I found my 2019 Carolina League All Star card in my box, and got it signed. 

We sat beside the bullpen and talked with Paredes for most of the game. He was really awesome. My experience with Akin later did nothing to ruin my night. Paredes was so cool. He also talked to a dad witg two kids near us, giving them advice and talking about life in the minors. There needs to be more guys like him.

In all, we got the following autographs: Silas Ardoin x 4, Jose Barrero x 3, Enrique Bradfield x 6, Christian Encarnacion-Strand x 2, Jud Fabian x 2, Maikol Hernandez x 4, Jackson Kowar x 7, Enoli Paredes x 6, Cade Povich x 2, Bryan Ramos x 2, Willy Vasquez x 1, Cooper Bowman x 2, Carlos Colmenarez x 2 and Logan Davidson x 2 (45 total autographs). 

April 3-4, 2026 Graphing of the IronPigs at Bulls

Graphing season for 2026 has kicked off, and Jesse and I did really well this weekend in Durham. We went to see the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Friday and Saturday. Friday was interesting, since Phillies ace, Zack Wheeler was starting for Lehigh Valley. There were a ton of Phillies fans there, especially by the dugout pregame. The only IronPigs guys who stopped pregame were Adam Lind and Bryan De La Cruz. Lind signed the above 2010 Topps Chrome, becoming the first person to get me on the board this season.

A huge variety of cards got signed on the trip. I had to buy a couple Christian Cairo cards off of Ebay for the trip, and they were the last two cards that were signed Saturday night. We did so much better on Lehigh Valley outside the stadium both nights. Getting Genesis Cabrera was nice; it was nice to get some 2019 Bowman cards out of the box. He also signed a 2019 Bowman Heritage, which is always nice to add to the autograph album. 

We got De La Cruz a few different times, and he helped add a bunch of cards to the album. A 2025 Topps Heritage High Number was signed by Connor Gillispie, and Seth Johnson hit my 2025 Topps.

Aside from Wheeler, Orion Kerkering was on a rehab assignment, as well. He was really cool and signed everything we had. He signed my first 2026 Topps Heritage.

Carter Kieboom and Pedro Leon are two guys who had been in the Box-of-Shame for a long time. I was glad to get a few of their cards out of there and into the album. 

Griff McGarry is another guy who I had missed in the past. He signed everything we had by the bullpen after the game, Friday. He was a really nice guy. I hate that he walked in a ton of runs on Saturday. 

Lou Trivino was really cool, as well. He talked to Jesse and I a bit. Jesse took his picture with his Polaroid (yes, Jesse has a Polaroid), and got the picture signed after the game.

I was really glad to get my Trevor Richards 2019 Stadium Club signed. The cards I had of him all had logged a lot of frequent flyer miles, as they had been sent to Chiacago and back for Max to try and get signed a while back. 

Saturday, Jesse and I tried graphing on the Bulls dugout. The big get for us was Gavin Lux, who signed one per for us. The card I got was a 2022 Panini Capstone. It turned out great.  I didn't have any Brody Hopkins in my huge pile of 2025 Topps Pro Debut, for some reason. Gerard sent me some, so I was able to add him to the album. He outpitched Wheeler, which was cool.

I finally got a Jacob Melton signed. I missed him last season with Sugar Land. I finally saw Victor Mesa, Jr., and just happened to get the cards back of him that I had sent Max, which worked out great for me. I was glad to get his 2021 Topps Heritage Minors done. I love that set. If I were to work on a more recent set, that one might be it.

I was happy to get my 2024 Topps Edward Olivares purple shimmer parallel signed. He got hurt Friday, and left Saturday as we were out graphing on the sidewalk. I hate that he got hurt. Joe Rock walked on the other side of the street, but we were able to get him. He signed a 2026 Topps, which was cool.

One of the cool things that I got signed this weekend was this MLB debut ticket of Carter Kieboom. Michael had sent me the ticket earlier in the week, and I decided to take it along to try and get it signed. I told him about it, to which he replied "oh that's sick!"

While I was waiting in line for my obligatory Rita's gelati, I ran into one of my former geology professors from UNCC, Kevin Headd. We have kept in touch over the years via Facebook; and he used to come into the store I worked at back then. He is such a good guy. He took this selfie while I was in line.

Kevin met us outside the stadium and graphed with us. I helped him identify some if the players and hooked him up with a marker. His wife took a few pictures while we were at work. Here is one she took of us getting Blake Sabol.

Here is another with Carlos Colmenarez. I was so happy to run into Kevin, and let him see a little bit of what I'm always posting about on Facebook. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Carlos Colmenarez x 6, Logan Davidson x 3, Luis Guerrero x 2, Brody Hopkins x 4, Justyn-Henry Malloy x 2, Trevor Martin x 3, Jacob Melton x 2, Victor Mesa x 5, Tre Morgan x 4, Edward Olivares x 2, Joe Rock x 6, Blake Sabol x 2, Wool E Bull x 2, Sergio Alcantara x 5, Genesis Cabrera x 6, Bryan De La Cruz x 10, Connor Gillispie x 1, Jonathan Hernandez x 2, Seth Johnson x 2, Orion Kerkering x 7, Pedro Leon x 4, Adam Lind x 1, Griff McGarry x 5, Robert Moore x 7, Trevor Richards x 7, Chase Shugart x 1, Lou Trivino x 3, Chris Clark x 4, Gavin Lux x 2, Kodi Whitley x 2, Christian Cairo x 2 and Carter Kieboom x 5 (119 total autographs).