April 11, 2026, Charleston Riverdogs at Fayetteville Woodpeckers

Yesterday was a solo trip to Fayetteville to get some cards signed. I worked this past week to prep for the trip. Chris had a memorial service to go to, and Jesse was out of town.

I got into the stadium late due to the long line, missing the free jersey they were giving out. I wasn't too late to get most of the guys I needed, though.

I messed up and included coach Kevin Randel with Fayetteville's stuff, but the former Marlins lifer is coaching with Charleston.

Fayetteville doesn't have a whole lot of guys with cards, not like Charleston does. Still, Anthony Huezo racked for me. Camilo Diaz and Xavier Neyens wouldn't sign at the ramp. I had to walk over to the other side of the dugout to get Diaz. I got Neyens outside after the game.

I got almost every Riverdog that I needed by the ramp, pregame. Caden Bodine was already on the field whenI got in, so i had to get him coming off of the field post game. Mason Auer signed everything I had in my book, which was cool.

Dylan Lesko also signed everything I had. The only players who limited were Camilo Diaz, Caden Bodine and Danny Mendick. It didn't mess anything up, though.

I didn't cone home with very many leftovers to put back in my boxes, so that's always a plus.

In all, I got the following autographs: Mason Auer x 5, Caden Bodine x 2, Cooper Flemming x 2, Dominic Fritton x 1, Taitn Gray x 1, Nate Knowles x 3, Dylan Lesko x 9, Danny Mendick x 3, Dean Moss x 3, Camilo Diaz x 3, Kenni Gomez x 1, Anthony Huezo x 5, Xavier Neuens x 2, German Ramirez x 1 and Kevil Randel x 1 (42 total autographs). 

A Couple 50-50s From Jesse

Still catching up, I missed a series at the Wood Ducks when I was away for the National.  The Fayetteville Woodpeckers were in town, and I hadn't gotten Chase Jaworsky when we saw the Peckers in Fayetteville a month prior.  I gave my extras to Jesse, along with my tickets, and he got Jaworsky for me.

Fayetteville was kind of rough this season, with very few guys with cards.  I finished everyone I had, so that was good, at least.

Fayetteville is about an hour/hour and a half away from the house, so I may try to go there a bit more now that the Wood Ducks are gone.  Let's hope they add some prospects, though.

Thanks for getting these cards signed for me, Jesse.

June 22, 2024, Graphing of Shorebirds at Woodpeckers

My good friend, Jesse, and I were discussing placed to graph this past weekend, and he noted that the Fayetteville Woodpeckers were doing a bobble head giveaway on Saturday.  It worked out for me because I am going to miss Delmarva when I head to the National.  A few of the Shorebirds that I missed earlier in the year were back off of the IL.  I finally was able to get Maikol Hernandez, which was great.  He did 4 of 6, which knocked enough out for me.

Leandro Arias and Jake Cunningham were finally with the team, so I got a few of them done.

Chase Jaworsky didn't have time to stop pregame and after Fayetteville lost, he wasn't signing for anyone post game.  I did get Kenni Gomez, which helped.  There were only two Fayetteville guys with cards, so I didn't have a whole lot in the first place.

The bobble head was pretty awesome, so I'm glad Jesse told me about it. I have already added it to the China cabinet.  I had a great time at the game.  Jesse brought his little brother, Landon, who we had helping us graph.  Then, we met a guy from Instagram who was on a graphing road trip down in NC, which was really cool.

In all, we got the following autographs:  Kenni Gomez x 3, Leandro Arias x 3, Carter Baumler x 1, Jacob Cravey x 1, Jake Cunningham x 7, Anderson De Los Santos x 1 and Maikol Hernandez x 4 (20 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).

August-September 2022 Graphing of Woodpeckers at Wood Ducks

The end of the Minor League season is upon us, and as always, it leaves me sad.  I still have some opportunities to graph some teams, but the home portion of the Wood Ducks schedule is complete.  This last series with Fayetteville was more eventful than I thought it would be, and I left myself wanting more, as the last out was recorded.

There was a player here on a rehab assignment, Andre Scrubb.  I was only able to get Scrubb one time, since he didn't typically come out with the team, and the rest of the cards I had to get signed came in late on Saturday.  I raided my 2021 Topps set for his base card, and I also had the above 2021 Topps Chrome Anniversary Edition in my stack from the boxes I busted.  Scrubb was really nice; I mentioned to him that we have a mutual friend, Gerard.  I asked him about his breaking boxes, and after he signed for me (while coming off of the field between innings), he came back and handed me six packs of 2021 Chrome Anniversary Edition.  I spread the packs out to the other guys sitting with me, and we had a good time opening the cards.  We didn't pull anything monumental, but had a good time nonetheless.

I got this 2018 Bowman purple parallel signed by Jayson Schroeder.  I had found this card in a box at the National.

I failed to dig deep into Fayetteville's roster prior to the start of the series, so I missed that Ryan Clifford was on the team.  It was ok, though, because I found his cards Tuesday night and had them prepped and ready for the book on Wednesday.  Gerard hooked me up with some Tyler Whitaker cards that also got signed.

Finally, I finished off what I could in Kinston for the Wood Ducks team set.  I need to try to hit the missing guys in Hickory, which is where I may end up going this coming weekend.

In all, I got the following autographs: Demetre Kokoris x 6, Dylan MacLean x 4, Guilder Rodriguez x 5, Jose Rodriguez x 1, Kevin Varitek x 5, Alex Santos x 10, Jayson Schroeder x 2, Andre Scrubb x 2 Tyler Whitaker x 4, Ryan Clifford x 3, Jose Corniell x 1, Gavin Collyer x 1, Yosy Galan x 1, Justin Jacobs x 1, Nick Lockhart x 1, Damian Mendoza x 1, Steve Mintz x 1, Tucker Mitchell x 1, Ian Moller x 1, Efrenyer Narvaez x 5, Abimelec Ortiz x 1, Junior Paniagua x 1, Rachel Purcell x 1, Drew Sannes x 1, Winston Santos x 1, Elazar Konsker x 1, Jackson Leath x 1, Marcus Smith x 1, Emilano Teodo x 1, Cam Cauley x 1, Maximo Acosta x 3, Mitch Bratt x 2 and Anthony Hoopi-Tuionetoa x 1 (72 total autographs).

May 2022 Graphing of Woodpeckers at Wood Ducks

Another series is in the books, along with a bunch of signed cards.  The Wood Ducks won the series 5-1 and I finally got some 2022 Bowman in.

I hit up Sportlots for a few Dickie Joe Thon cards, and they all turned out great.  I got three different 2011 Bowman Platinum chrome parallels, and two 2011 Bowman Chromes.  I was really happy with how all of these turned out.

I thought I had some Thons somewhere, but I was never able to find them.  Sportlots made it easy, and now these cards are put away in the album.

I was really happy to see Vincent Blue on the coaching staff, as I had his 2007 Bowman ever since that set came out.  I also had these Jayson Schroeders in my boxes for quite a while.

I didn't have any Logan Cernys until late in the week, but did end up finishing everything I had gotten in by Sunday.  Alex Santos was really tough, but we did have a nice conversation on Sunday to make up for him bypassing Chris the other day, insisting he had signed for Chris the day before, even thought Chris missed that game due to work.

My Steve Mintz Auckland Tuatara card finally came in, and I promptly got it signed.  This is from when he managed in New Zealand a few years ago.

The 2022 Bowmans came rolling in, as well, and I got a 2022 Bowman Chrome blue ray wave refractor and a purple paper parallel of Jose Rodriguez signed, along with my 2022 Bowman Chrome and a Bowman paper.

I also was able to add a Maximo Acosta 2022 Bowman and Bowman Chrome to the album.  The 2021 Panini Prizm blue parallel of Mitch Bratt came from Gerard.

I had misplaced this Cam Cauley Bowman paper from 2021 in my box, but found it before the series ended.  It got signed, and turned out nicely.  Gerard sent me these 2021 Prizms as part of a 50/50 and I was able to keep these of Cauley and Ian Moller.

In all, I got the following autos: Logan Cerny x 8, Jose Rodriguez x 15, Alex Santos x 5, Guilder Rodriguez x 2, Maximo Acosta x 7, Cam Cauley x 6, Ian Moller x 6, Steve Mintz x 2, Leury Tejada x 2, Jayson Schroeder x 13, Mitch Bratt x 3, Dylan MacLean x 1, Vincent Blue x 2 and Joe Thon x 5 (77 total autographs)

August 24-29, 2021, Graphing of Woodpeckers at Wood Ducks

This series between the Woodpeckers and Wood Ducks was the first one I caught all games of in quite some time.  The season is winding down, and the Wood Ducks are in the middle of the playoff picture, so I wanted to catch as many games as I could.  There were only 2 guys on Fayetteville with cards, so I didn't have a whole lot to prep for this trip.  Add in the fact that I didn't have many guys on the Wood Ducks that I needed, I ended up going for a couple days and not graphing at all, which was kind of weird.  On Saturday, though, my boxes of Pro Debut came in, and I had a few more cards stocked up in my autograph book.  I was able to finally get a certified card of Luisangel Acuna signed; something other than a custom or a team set, which was really nice.

My dude, Cody Freeman, was back in action, so I was able to get my team set card done, as well as a couple customs my friend Dugan made for me.  Cody liked them so much, he requested that Dugan make him some.

I got my Alex Santos and Jordan Brewer cards signed; the only Fayetteville guys who's cards I could find.  I also had a lot of 10 cards of Brady Smith come in, and found a few cards of roving instructor, Roy Silver.  I was excited when I saw that I had Silver's cards in my 1990 ProCards AAA box.

My friend, Ben, came for the Saturday game; his first game all season.  We graphed together a bunch in the past, and he has been missed this year.  He gave me some blank Rangers signature cards, so I got Gavin Collyer on one of them.  Gavin talked to Chris and I bunch this series, and has become one of our favorite guys on the team.

On Saturday night, Jayce Easley stole his 60th base of the season, which leads all of professional baseball.  I called it pregame, and Jayce was more than happy to sign and inscribe my ticket stub from last night.

We had a really good time this series.  The Wood Ducks won the series 4-3 (they finished a suspended game on Tuesday, followed by their regularly scheduled game) and as of last night, were tied with the Mudcats for the second playoff spot.  I'm hoping to catch all of the remaining home games as the Woodies continue to fight to keep the season going past that last series in September.

August 2019 Graphing of Woodpeckers at Wood Ducks

 The Fayetteville Woodpeckers came through town August 20-22, and I was able to catch the games on August 20-21.  I didn't have much left for anyone to sign, but I did have this Miguelangel Sierra from the National to get done.

I also had a ton of Cody Deason, which he signed every one of!

I also had these cards out of the Carolina League All Star set.  I missed one of the coaches, but got these done.

I also had these two Midwest League All Star cards that I got done, as well.

The season was winding down at this point, and a lot of weather was coming through the area.  The last game of the series was rained out and tacked onto the end of season series in Fayetteville as a double header.