July 14-16, 2023, Graphing of Riverdogs at Wood Ducks

The Wood Ducks were back in town this weekend taking on the Charleston Riverdogs following the All Star break.  I had a ton of cards to get signed from Charleston, so I was a bit worried with the short series that I wouldn't be able to get everything done. 

There were a few Charleston guys who werent here. I was able to get everything done of the guys who were, though.  I had thought that Xavier Isaac would be hard to get; he did limit us, but I had help from Chris plus my friends, Jesse, Josh and Matt.

I took on a bunch of 50/50s, including a ton of Jhon Diaz. but they all got done. I didn't have much left of my own after I saw Charleston in Columbia earlier this year, so the 50/50s were welcome.

I picked up the above Walters State JuCo card of Kohl Drake, and it got here in time for this series.  My friend, Gerard sent me a couple Dylan MacLean cards, and I was able to keep this black parallel.

Finally, I got a ball signed by Marcus Johnson prior to Saturday's game.  I got a message Saturday morning from Cody Freeman telling me to get Johnson's autograph.  Cody and Marcus are best friends, and it was really cool to talk to each of them about each other.  You can tell how much folks like Cody when they meet him. I appreciated Cody reaching out to me.

In all, we got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 5, Aidan Curry x 2, Kohl Drake x 1, Gleider Figuereo x 12, Anthony Gutierrez x 4, Dylan MacLean x 2, Carlos Maldonaldo x 2, Andres Mesa x 19, Julio Valdez x 2, Jhon Diaz x 28, Xavier Isaac x 12, Cooper Kinney x 22, Trevor Martin x 14, Chandler Simpson x 12, Ryan Spikes x 23, Adrian Rodriguez x 3, Marcus Johnson x 1 and Luis Ramirez x 2 (164 total autographs). 

August 2022 Graphing of Pelicans at Wood Ducks

The next-to-last home series for the Wood Ducks has come and gone.  This time around, they went 4-2 against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.  The Pelicans had several guys with cards on their team.  A few of them were really tough, but I had a little bit of help this week, which knocked out some of what I needed done.

Kevin Alcantara didn't sign Tuesday, but was good for one per the rest of the days.  I really liked the Heritage Minors box topper that I got done a the top of the post.  I also got a 2021 Bowman Chrome mojo and a 2022 Bowman Chrome done.

I had Ezequiel Pagan in my box since 2018, and I finally was able to get my cards signed.  Ethan Hearn wasn't too cool on this trip.  I had heard he was pretty nice, but he was pretty cold to a lot of the folks here.  Maybe it is because it is the end of the season.  Still, I got a few of his cards out of the boxes, which was nice.

I knocked out some Clayton Mortensen for myself, and my friend, Max.  Parker Chavers was fine, but James Triantos seemed miserable when asked to sign.  I was glad to get my pack pulled 2021 Panini Elite Extra Edition signed by Triantos.  It's easy to buy the cards off of Ebay, but it is a good feeling to get a card you pulled signed in person.

My friend, Jessie, got me the 1986 Durham Bulls Buddy Bailey card.  Bailey commented on it and how he got a call from the guy who wrote Bull Durham to ask him some questions.  I also was glad to get my 2019 Midwest League All Star card signed.  I wish the would have All Star games in the minors again.  Maybe next year.

I liked getting this 2009 Topps Heritage signed by Clayton Mortensen.  These are great cards, and look great when signed.  Mortensen was really nice; he signed for us after one of the games.  I almost missed him that game, as we had seen him walking back to the clubhouses as we were leaving the seating area.

My friend, Gerard, sent me this blue parallel from 2021 Topps Pro Debut of Dylan MacLean.  I have asked a lot of Dylan this season, and he has been really cool.  He's a good kid, and fun to talk to.

Gerard also sent me a Myrtle Beach team set, and I knocked out a bunch of the guys from the set.  I missed several who have been moved up, but I was pleased with getting the ones I had.

I like the design of Myrtle Beach's set; it isn't the greatest that I have seen, but it is a decent one, for sure.

I appreciate Gerard sending me one of the sets.  I usually get a couple team sets of some of the nearby opposing teams, but I didn't do that this season.

The Wood Ducks team sets also were released prior to this week.  A bunch of the guys have been moved up to Hickory, or down to Arizona.  I got everyone I could get this week, except for the trainer and also the pitching coach, Demetre Kokoris.  I'll see Demetre the next series and get his cards signed.

I like this design.  It is different from what they have done in the past.  While I do enjoy the backgrounds of the older team sets, this one has a 1958 Topps feel to it and is very bold.  It looks really cool in my Wood Ducks team set album.

The price point of the set was great, also.  That was mainly because it was released so late in the season.  For 8 bucks, however, I was willing to pay it and just deal with the possibility of going to Hickory to knock some of the guys out.

In all, I got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 4, Jose Corniell x 4, Anthony Hoopi-Tuionetoa x 4, Justin Jacobs x 4, Tucker Mitchell x 4, Ian Moller x 7, Jose Rodriguez x 5, Buddy Bailey x 5, Parker Chavers x 6, Jacob Wetzel x 3, Jovanny Rosaio x 3, Liam Spence x 3, Mitch Bratt x 4, Cam Cauley x 6, Gavin Collyer x 4, Yosy Galan x 4, Ryan Garcia x 4, Elazar Konsker x 4, Nick Lockhart x 4, Dylan MacLeanx 5, Daniel Mateo x 4, Damian Mendoza x 4, Steve Mintz x 4, Abi Ortiz x 4, Junior Paniagua x 4, Rachel Purcell x 4, Winston Santos x 4, Marcus Smith x 4, Emiliano Teodo x 4, Kevin Alcantara x 16, Andrew Gold x 3, Clayton Mortensen x 10, Johzan Oquendo x 3, Steve Pollakov x 3, Malcom Quintero x 3, Tyler Santana x 3, Felix Stevens x 3, James Triantos x 8, Chase Watkins x 3, Mark Weisman x 3, Jackson Leath x 5, Yenci Pena x 5, Guilder Rodriguez x 4, Drew Sannes x 4, Ethan Hearn x 9, Ezequiel Pagan x 12, Nick Roberts x 3, Frankie Scalzo, Jr. x 3 and Luis Angel Rodriguez x 3. (229 total autographs)

Graphing Recap of April 12-16, 2022, Cannonballers at Wood Ducks

The Wood Ducks home opener was this past week, and I finished off all of the cards I had for Kannapolis by the double-header on Saturday.  I also knocked out a few more Maximo Acostas.  The above speckle parallel turned out nicely, and scanned amazingly.

I don't want to blow up Acosta, so I haven't presented many cards to him to sign.  I got quite a few during the series, since Alex was in town, and Chris was able to go to the games.

I took a few 50/50s, and the ones that had come in by the time the series came around were from my good friend, Gerard.  The above 2020 Panini Prizm tiger stripe parallel of Dylan MacLean is numbered 1/99 and looks awesome.

For whatever reason, I had a hard time identifying Brooks Gosswein.  I finally was able to get him to sign on Frida, after a funny conversation with Jared Kelley (an amazingly nice guy) and another of the Ballers pitchers.  As I was talking to Kelley about not being able to find Gosswein prior to the other three games, a pitcher walked up and said I'm Brooks.  Since another of the pitchers said he would sign as Brooks for me, I figured this was the same case.  I told him "Hey, if you tell me you're Brooks, I'll take it."  He asked "You don't believe me?  What does my glove say?"  It said Brooks Gosswein.  He was very nice and signed all we had.  He stayed to chat for a few minutes about the cards I had brought and apologized for my not being able to spot him; it turns out, he was working out one night and was with a trainer another and I really just missed him.

I added a new James Beard to the autograph album with the above 2021 Topps Heritage Minors card.  Wes Kath was one per, but was pretty nice.  I had a conversation with Adisyn Coffey about his time spent in Mount Carmel, IL, since my awesome friend, Andrew, is from there.  I also got one of Andrew's cards signed.

I added a bunch of Jared Kelley cards to the album, and got every 2010 Topps Pro Debut that i had of Cam Seitzer signed.  The 2012 Bowman Chrome green parallel of Seitzer was a card I found on Sportlots.

John Ely was awesome as always.  He is very friendly, and chatted with me a bit each day.

I was out of Guillermo Quiroz cards, so I ordered a bunch off of Sportlots.  He signed everything across a few days, and I am glad to add some of these cards to the album.

Quiroz has a lot of nice stuff, from an era where there were a lot of sets being made.  I'm glad that I picked up what I did.

Finally, on Tuesday, I was interviewed for WITN news about opening night and collecting autographs.  Fellow grapher, Jessie Jones, was also interviewed.  It was a lot of fun, and I was able to call out Chris for making my buy Nick Lockhart hot dogs last season (and Chris telling Nick that he was the one paying for them).  Maddie Kerth was the reporter who interviewed us, and as a gesture that I thought up, I told her that we would take her business card, only if she autographed them for us.  She thought that was a really funny/cool touch and obliged with a signature.

Click here for the link to the interview that aired Tuesday night.  Even my buddy, Alex, made a cameo in the wide shot of where we were sitting. 

The Wood Ducks split the series after splitting the double header Saturday night.  Stick around to see what Alex, Chris and I did prior to the Wood Ducks games this week, and on Sunday when they were off. 

Graphing Recap - 2022 Wood Ducks Meet the Team Event

Happy Opening Day!  For some folks, at least.  Tomorrow, more teams will start, along with minor leagues.  The Wood Ducks start on the road at the Mudcats, so tonight, they had their "Meet the Team" event for season ticket holders.  It was a real nice time, even though they scaled it back due to the threat of rain (it didn't rain on us).  I was hoping for some free food.

This season, Maximo Acosta is the big prospect who is on the Wood Ducks roster, and I preemptively bought some nice Bowman Chrome parallels off of Ebay with a gift card that my wife got me for Christmas or my birthday (I can't remember how long I've had it).  The above 2021 Bowman Chrome Ray Wave refractor is just an awesome-looking card.  I got it for 5 bucks, and couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

The black and white speckle parallel (top right) was another card I bought in a lot on Ebay.  The other two haven't been signed yet.

I was also able to add Dylan MacLean; he was in 2021 Topps Pro Debut and 2021 Heritage Minors.

Finally, my friend, Gerard, hooked me up with the pink chrome refractor of Guilder Rodriguez; I was also able to knock a couple Hickory team set cards out of new Wood Ducks coach, Justin Jacobs.

In all, Chris and I got 20 autographs.  This was a great way to kick off the season, and I hope they do this again.