August 16, 2025, Graphing of the Drive at Grasshoppers

A few weeks ago, I had to go out of town for work.  That Saturday night, I went to Greensboro to try to get a few more Grasshoppers cards out of my box.  I got one more Konnor Griffin signed; he was promoted to Altoona the next day.

I knocked out a few more cards from the Greensboro team set, which was nice.  None of the guys had numbers on the front, so getting signatures was tough.  Still, a few got done, which helped.

I got a 2021 Bowman Chrome refractor of Shalin Polanco that I picked up from the National.  He also signed his team set card.

I was able to use up my remaining free ticket to the Grasshoppers (from the rainout in June).  I was glad to get those taken care of.  I didn't get a single Drive player, but that's ok.  Also, I got out of the stadium late because I was waiting for Griffin, so I missed the Drive guys I needed outside.

In all, I got the following autographs: Jack Carey x 1, Jesus Castillo x 1, Hung Leng Chang x 1, Khristian Curtis x 2, Konnor Griffin x 1, Steph Lombard x 1, JP Massey x 1, Matt Myers x 1, Connor Oliver x 1, Shalin Polanco x 3 and Will Taylor x 1 (14 total autographs). 

June 2022 Graphing of Drive at Crawdads

Following what was a tough week-plus, I finally got some graphing in.  We had a death in the family the week prior, then we had to put our dog, Rocky, down last week.  I wasn't really feeling graphing, but made myself go on Friday to Hickory while I was in the Winston area for my dad's annual race.  The race was Saturday, so I had plenty of time Friday night to relax and get some ink on some cards.  Chris was at my sister's house, so I flew solo, but actually made a friend while I was there.  We'll see how that goes.

One of the bigger surprises for me on this trip was that Luisangel Acuna has completely opened up to signing, finally.  He was the first player out of the clubhouse, and signed everything I had on the page.  I was impressed, and happy to get the stuff that I had brought, done.

I knocked out several more Hickory team set cards.  I have a different marker this time, and it stood up much better to the team set cards than my Staedtler did.  I still have a bunch to do, but have gotten most of them out of the way; especially the tough guys like Acuna and Evan Carter.

I also knocked out most of what I had left for Aaron Zavala.  Hickory had the SAL League Top Prospects set in, so I opened one and got Carter to sign the card of him in there.

Robby Ahlstrom was recently promoted to Hickory, so I was able to finish off the card I had left for him.  This card scanned so awesome.

This 2019 Bowman Chrome Draft Progression card is going to be tough to finish, but I got Chris Seise on it, and maybe I can get the other two guys at some point.

Finally, I had only a handful of Greenville guys, and even fewer stopped to sign.  I did get this 2021 Bowman Draft Tyler McDonough done, and it turned out nicely.  I tried a few other guys, but wasn't successful.  It didn't help that the players didn't have numbers on the front of their jerseys.

The Crawdads were wearing Thor themed jerseys, and I won Cody Freeman's (of course).  It will be shipped to me signed, and looks pretty cool.  I was glad to win another Cody jersey, and was even happier seeing him again.

In all, I got the following autographs: Luisangel Acuna x 6, Ben Amderson x 1, Robby Ahlstrom x 2, Evan Carter x 2, Carlos Cardoza x 2, Frainyer Chavez x 2, Randy Florentino x 2, Jon Goebel x 2, Spencer Mraz x 1, Keyber Rodriguez x 2, Thomas Saggese x 2, Chris Seise x 5, Ricky Vanasco x 2, Owen White x 3, Aaron Zavala x 3, Matthew Lugo x 1 and Tyler McDonough x 1 (39 total autographs).

June 27, 2021 Graphing of Drive at Grasshoppers

Last Sunday, I took my son, Chris, and my little cousin, Ale, to Greensboro to see the Greensboro Grasshoppers take on the Greenville Drive.  I also was going in hopes to finish what I started on Greenville while Ale and I were in Winston-Salem before he and I were shut down.

We did really well graphing inside and outside the stadium, EXCEPT I missed Jay Groome again.  He didn't sign outside, and I was left with my ton of Groome cards, still.  Thakfully, I had given the two best cards to my friend, Dugan, and he got those done.  The above 2017 Bowman Chrome blue shimmer was one of them.  It turned out great.

The other card was the 2017 Bowman Tek (top left).  I had been holding on to those cards since 2017, so I was happy to get them signed.  We were able to get everyone else that we set out to get, which was nice.

I was really glad to finish off most of my Greenville stuff.  I had it pulled, and had I not finished most of it, there would have been a bunch of stuff going back into my boxes.  

The Elih Marrero 2015 Stars and Stripes was found in a box after the trip to Winston, though.  Thankfully, I pulled it when I saw it and put it in my Greenville pile.  I need t do a better job of pulling stuff when I see it, instead of telling myself "Oh, I'll grab that out of the box the next time around.

On the Greensboro side of things, I had pulled some stuff with the thought that I would hit that team at some point this season, so getting stuff together for this series was a lot easier than it normally would have been.  Plus, Dugan was going by there, as well, so I had a couple guys pulled for him as well.

Nick Gonzales hit a homer while we were watching the game.  He signed one per, and only signed after the game.  When he did sign, however, he was really nice.

Dugan had gotten me a Liover Peguero autograph when he got my Groomes signed for me, so I included it here, as well.  I got my own Peguero (the 2020 Heritage Minors), as well.

All of the Greensboro guys were nice.  I see now that I included Drive pitching coach, Bob Kipper, among the Greensboro guys.  I guess that was because he was in a Pirates uniform on this 1989 Score (bottom left).

We all had a really good time at the Greensboro game.  Ale did a great job getting autographs, even though he hadn't done it prior to our trip to the Dash game weeks before.  He even told me he enjoyed graphing, which was nice to hear.  Hopefully, he keeps up with the cards I gave him when the trip was over.

June 12 Graphing of Drive at Dash

What started off as a decent graphing experience at the Winston-Salem Dash went a bit downhill as my cousin, Alejandro, and I were shut down inside and outside by Dash personnel.  They cited MLB's COVID protocols as the reason why NO ONE could sign autographs.  I found this to be ridiculous, as three people I spoke to got autographs there earlier in the week with no problems.  Regardless, Ale and I were able to get a few autographs before being shut down, so that was a plus.  It was also nice to get Ale, who is 12 (and pronounced Al-E, or Allie), accustomed to graphing.  He showed some interest in going to the game with me, so, Chris hung back and spent some time with my brother, while I took Ale on our first excursion together.  Chris missed out, though, because one of his favorite former Wood Ducks was playing for the Drive, and asked where Chris was.

Tyreque Reed would always fist bump Chris as he came onto the field at Grainger Stadium, until he got injured.  He must have been picked up by the Red Sox organization, so I was able to get our team set cards signed.

Ale and I got Kole Cottam easily, with no issues.  It was when Cole Brannen was signing for us that a Dash employee informed us that Brannen couldn't sign.  It was news to Brannen, so he told the guy "I'll stop after this one..."  So, it was disappointing, to say the least.  Still, Ale and I had a good time together, and my sister and her husband also showed up in the first inning, so we turned it into a little family time.  Ale got a hat, which he loved.  We tried to graph outside after the game, but were shut down again by a different dash employee.  We complied, but Ale was a bit disappointed there, too, as was I.  He, now, wants to come out here to visit, where I can show him how things are really done, in Kinston.

Christmas 2012

Christmas has come and gone once again.  It takes a whole year to arrive and then is gone in a flash.  This year, we stretched it out over the course of 3 days.  Christmas Eve was spent at my grandmother's house with my family, my aunt (my Dad's sister), her kids, her friend and my uncle (my Dad's brother) and his kids.  After a nice dinner and opening of gifts for the kids, we did our annual tradition of the 11PM service at my family church in Winston-Salem.  Christmas morning was spent at my parents' house with most of my brothers and sisters opening presents from my parents.  We left from their house Christmas day for Charlotte so we could spend some time with my wife's parents.  Finally, we left there this morning and headed home to open presents at our house.  Here is some of the stuff that I got this year.

My mom has had this ongoing tradition over the last few years of giving me minor league jerseys.  In the past, she has given me: Montgomery Biscuits, Lansing Lugnuts, LeHigh Valley IronPigs and Toledo Mud Hens.  I also have a couple Kinston Indians jerseys that I picked up on my own before they skipped town.

This year's jerseys were really cool (as always, of course).  I got a Greenville Drive jersey.  This one is actually a game used jersey from their July 31, 2011 Textile Night, I believe.  Startex is a local textile company in the general vicinity of Greenville, SC.  I'm not sure who wore the jersey, but they were available via silent auction during that game.  I would love to figure out who actually wore it during the game.  Greenville is the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The other jersey I got was this one for the Bowling Green Hot Rods.  They are the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.  Pretty simple jersey, but I think it is pretty cool.  That is what Mom and I love about the minor league jerseys; the teams' names in most cases are very unique.  She has been enjoying looking for different teams.

No Christmas would be complete without an assortment of some Orioles stuff.  I have a plaque to hang on the wall, a little figuring for my desk, a magnet and a banner to hang.  Pretty sweet.  I'm so glad the O's went back to the cartoon bird.  I feel like it has character, so to speak.

Finally, Here is another assortment of stuff I got that wasn't baseball cards (which I got several packs of, plus one really cool vintage card that my brother gave me and will be posted later...).  I got the round baseball book from my in-laws and the rest were another item to hang on the wall and a couple books from my mom.  I always enjoy the Hall of Fame books that come out every year (because there are a lot of pictures).  The book in the middle is a sticker book that I will have a good time filling out.

I hope you all had a great Christmas with your loved ones and got all the things you asked for.  I had a great time with my family and will enjoy the next several days off recuperating from the holiday tour of NC.

Greenville Drive vs. Asheville Tourists game 8/29/10

The whole reason we drove all the way to Columbia, SC (other than seeing my brother) was so that we could catch a Greenville Drive game. My brother had told me that Greenville's field was pretty nice, and it would be another different park I could go to this year.


Fluor Field is pretty nice. I liked the building paralleling the field, reminiscent of the Warehouse in Baltimore. You can see how packed the place was; the game had playoff implications, as I believe Asheville and Greenville were tied before this game atop the league standings. We were on hand to witness a pretty good game and ended up with some free baseball. Greenville ended up winning with a walkoff wild pitch. It would have been nice for a little extra drama, but I'll take what I can get.

Here are my son, Chris and my niece Harper enjoying the game. I could have done without the little leaguers bowling them over trying to get one of the outfielders to throw them a ball. I slid down the hill and threw some elbows to make sure our kids weren't trampled. Chris found it amusing, but Harper didn't know what the hell was going on. She did enjoy the game. I also bought her very first pack of cards earlier in the day, a pack of 1990 Topps for fifty cents. She enjoyed looking at the pictures, then threw them in my brother's floor board (she's 2, so thats understandable).