April 14, 2024, Graphing of Grasshoppers at Dash

After our trip to Hickory, Jesse, Chris and I went to Winston-Salem to see the Greensboro Grasshoppers take on the Dash.  We got Termarr Johnson on a few cards.  He walked over to me while I was standing along the wall without me even calling him.  It was nice to add a few more cards to the album. 

Johnson was really cool.  He did two per for us.  I got some 2023 Bowman Draft and a couple 2023 Pro Debut signed.

I was really happy to get my gold parallel Jack Brannigan from 2023 Pro Debut signed.  The card is numbered to 50 and looks great.  We got Hunter Barco and Hudson Head outside the stadium after the game.  The weather was beautiful, and it was a nice day to be outside. 

Finally, we got a couple of the Dash guys prior to the game; Samuel Zavala signed for us post game as the team was coming off of the field.  I almost messed up and sent my Zavalas to my friend, Logan, as I had looked at a bunch of rosters and thought he was on Tulsa.

I had heard a few times that Wes Kath was super tough.  He signed for us just before the game began and was nice enough about it. He did one per, but still signed.

In all, we got the following autographs: Hunter Barco x 4, Jack Brannigan x 4, Hudson Head x 6, Termarr Johnson x 6, Patrick Reilly x 2, Jacob Gonzalez x 1, Wes Kath x 3 and Samuel Zavala x 7 (33)

TTM Success - Hudson Head

This past spring, a few Pirates prospects offered to sign some cards TTM for a small fee.  I took advantage and sent two cards to Hudson Head.  The cards turned out great, even though after I had sent the cards and fee out, I saw Head in Greensboro and got the same kinds of cards signed.

Head (b. 2001) was a third round draft pick by the Padres in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school.  He was traded to the Pirates prior to the 2021 season.  He has 143 hits, 18 home runs and a .227 batting average.

I mailed to Head on January 15 and got the cards back on April 7, for an 82-day TAT.  I paid the fee of $10.00/card.

Graphing Recap - Aberdeen Ironbirds at Greensboro Grasshoppers

Because Rob Manfred seriously jacked up the minor leagues, opportunities to graph Orioles prospects in Kinston have become a lot harder to come by.  This season, unless I go on the road, I won't see Delmarva at all.  I missed a couple classes of Oriole prospects the last couple of years, so when I saw that I could catch Aberdeen in Greensboro this past weekend, I hit the road.  The High Point game on Saturday supplanted a possible 2-game viewing of Aberdeen, but the graphing at the Rockers was well worth it.  That left me with a 2PM game on Sunday in Greensboro, which ended early enough for me to get home at a reasonable time.

One of the key cards I wanted to see signed at this game was the above 2002 Bowmans Best Ruben Gotay relic card.  I found it on Sportlots for a steal, not knowing it was a relic card.  It looks awesome, even though Gotay's autograph isn't much to look at.

I realized this morning that I had several other Callix Crabbe and Ruben Gotay cards that I had ordered, then mistakenly put in the wrong stack.  So, I will have to go back to Greensboro to get those taken care of.

The graphing of the Grasshoppers was a big case of missed opportunities.  One guy I missed last season when I went was Sammy Siani, whom I finally got on this 2020 Topps Pro Debut.  I ran into a fellow grapher that I see from time to time, and he showed me three other guys with cards that I just flat out missed when I was searching my boxes.  Oof.  Better luck next time.

Another oof was that I paid $20.00 to get Hudson Head TTM a couple months ago.  If I knew then that I would see him in Greensboro (and get the same card signed), I would have saved the money.  Oh well.

My mistakes aside, I was very successful in graphing Aberdeen.  I only ended up with one unsigned Orioles card, and that was an extra of last year's first round (#2 over all) pick, Colton Cowser.  He was one-per inside, and signed again for us outside (again, one per).  The above dual with Reed Trimble was the card he signed outside.

Coby Mayo signed every card I had in my book.  I only had one 2021 Bowman draft base card of former ECU standout, Connor Norby.  Donta' Williams signed 2 cards inside and my remaining card outside.

Finally, John Rhodes was one-per inside, then signed my remaining two cards outside.  I ended up with a couple extras of the Aberdeen guys.  All of them were pretty nice.  I gave Norby a little bit of crap outside, since he went to East Forsyth High School.  I went to West, so I had to represent.  We laughed about it.  He seems like a really nice guy.

I enjoyed Greensboro, even though I messed up a bit and didn't bring all of the cards I needed.  The good thing is, the field is close, so I can always go back later this summer.  In all, I got the following autographs:  Colton Cowser x 2, Donta' Williams x 3, Connor Norby x 1, Coby Mayo x 4, John Rhodes x 3, Sammy Siani x 1, Hudson Head x 2, Callix Crabbe x 1 and Ruben Gotay x 2 (19 total autographs).