June 2022 Graphing of Riverdogs at Wood Ducks

Another series has come and gone at Grainger Stadium.  This week, the Charleston Riverdogs came to town for a 6-game series that went back and forth.  The Wood Ducks settled for a series split with the Riverdogs.  I was hpoing they would take the series, as a little bit of payback for last season's loss in the Championship round.

I got some nice cards in of Robby Ahlstrom.  The above 2021 Panini Prizm is the snakeskin parallel, numbered 11/25.  Ahlstrom liked these cards and remarked how he hadn't gotten any of his own cards, yet, so I ordered one of these off of Ebay that night.  The card will arrive while the Woodies are out of town, so I will have to give it to Robby next time they are home.

I had also picked up these two parallels.  Both of them look awesome, and I really wish I had been able to find Prizm when it came out.

Ryan Garcia was added to the roster during this series, so I was finally able to get these cards signed that I had pulled for Hickory last season.  He had Tommy John surgery, followed by two lat strains, which kept him out last season.  He pitched on Saturday, and looked really good.

I was also able to get this 2020 Pro Debut signed.  I was really glad to get these cards off of my desk, which is where they sat after my visit to Hickory last season.

I got some nice parallels signed of Ian Moller (who hit his first home run of the season, this series), Jose Rodriguez, Cam Cauley and Dylan MacLean.  My friend, Gerard, hooked me up with the Jose and the Dylans; the gold Heritage Minors of MacLean is numbered 14/18.

I had met Jonathan George a few series ago, when he was in town scouting for the Rangers.  Since then, I have carried his cards in my book, waiting for him to come back.  He was finally back yesterday (Saturday) and signed the 5 cards that I brought with me.

Several of the Riverdogs players that had cards were on the IL, so a lot of what I had pulled and prepped went back in the Box of Shame.  The guys that were there were fairly tough.  Only one of the six games of the series saw the Riverdogs with numbers on the front of their jerseys.  That made spotting the guys tougher at the onset of the series.  Carson Williams was the toughest of the guys with cards.  He only signed a couple of times, then shut me down saying "I got you yesterday; I'm only doing one per person now..."  He also told a few people that he would only sign cards when they showed him photos to sign.  I'm pretty sure he did sign a couple baseballs for some folks early in the series.

Nick Schnell was supposed to come through last season when Charleston was here at the end of the year, but had gone on the IL right before that series started.  I carried over the cards I had of him of my own and also 50/50s for guys until now.  He signed one per each time he came by, but signed every time he came by, which was nice.  I ended up finishing all of my Schnell cards, which was a goal.  I don't like having to put stuff back in my boxes.

Finally, JJ Goss was another of the guys who was supposed to come through last season, but also had gone on the IL.  I ended up with a ton of his cards, but he was good for 2 per prior to every game, except for Saturday when he was starting.  I finished off a good many of his cards, but still have a bunch I will need to carry over until the next time I see him (Durham, maybe?).

In all, I got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 3, Robby Ahlstrom x 3, Mitch Bratt x 4, Cam Cauley x 10, Ian Moller x 15, Dylan MacLean x 6, Jose Rodriguez x 4, Sandy Gaston x 2, JJ Goss x 14, Nick Schnell x 13, Carson Williams x 7, Ryan Garcia x 14, Alejandro Osuna x 2, Jonathan George x 5 and Xavier Valentin x 1 (on Chris's bat he was given Saturday), for 103 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)

May 2022 Graphing Recap of Hillcats at Wood Ducks

This past series of the Hillcats at the Wood Ducks may be my most successful series graphing in a long time.  I was able to knock out a ton of cards, and helps several folks with 50/50s.  I took a few team bags of Carolina League coaches from my awesome friend, Max, and started him off right with a bunch of signed Omir Santos cards.  I really loved this 2006 Bowman Sterling that Max provided.

I had also ordered a few Santos cards off of Sportlots, and they came in just in time.  The 2006 Bowman Heritage that Max sent turned out great, along with the other cards I got signed (a 2006 Bowman, 2006 Bowman blue parallel, 2009 Topps Update Gold, 2010 Topps gold and a 2009 Bowman).

There were a few Hillcats players with cards, and fout of them had 2021 Topps Heritage Minors cards.  I added these four of Milan Tolentino (Milan is pronounced like the city in Italy), Carson Tucker (brother of Cole Tucker), Isaiah Greene and Yordys Valdes.

Tolentino and Valdes had cards in 2021 Topps Pro Debut (base), and both were landscape oriented.  The cards were very similar and I had mixed them up on my pages at least once.  

I actually had pulled the blue parallel of Greene's Pro Debut insert out of my boxes last year, so it was nice to get it signed and not have to buy one.

Greene was also in 2020 Bowman Draft and 2021 Bowman.  He was really nice, but very quiet.  His signature isn't much, but the cards are signed.  I can't complain there.

Milan Tolentino was the toughest of all of the players, and after all was said and done on Sunday afternoon, I had only two cards left over, and they were Tolentino.  They went back to Gerard, so he could try again another time.  I also was able to get Jake Fox on two new cards for the album; this is a different Jake Fox than the former Oriole farmhand who lit up Spring Training a while back.

I added a few new Guilder Rodriguez cards to the album.  This is a 2015 Topps mini that Gerard sent along.

Sharnol Adriana was the rover this week, and I got him on two Hickory team set cards.  He was helping out with hitting instruction this past week.  I also added a Guilder Rodriguez chrome refractor and x fractor from 2015.

The Rangers finally moved Cam Cauley and Ian Moller to the Wood Ducks.  Both were drafted last summer, and I have been picking up some of their cards.  I got a ray wave parallel of each guy, along with their respective Perfect Game cards.

My friend, Jesse, gave me a Teodoro Ortega card from the Spokane team set, and Gerard gave me a few more parallels of Dylan MacLean.  I also added some Mitch Bratt parallels.  Jesse hooked me up with a Junior Paniagua Elite Extra Edition.

Finally, here is the die cut parallel of Dylan MacLean's Elite Extra Edition that Gerard sent along.  I had gotten one of these done for him already, so this was my end of the take.

In all, I got the following autographs: Today's graphing recap of Hillcats at Wood Ducks: Maximo Acosta x 6, Mitch Bratt x 9, Dylan MacLean x 15, Cam Cauley x 14, Yosy Galan x 4, Ian Moller x 15, Milan Tolentino x 26, Leury Tejada x 12, Guilder Rodriguez x 13, Carson Tucker x 34, Omir Santos x 16, Yordys Valdes x 17, Junior Paniagua x 3, Bradford Webb x 2, Tucker Mitchell x 2, Isaiah Greene x 25, Sharnol Adriana x 2, Teodoro Ortega x 1, Jose Rodriguez x 1 and Jake Fox x 12 (229 total signatures).

A highlight of the series was meeting some fellow graphers who had traveled from the NJ/Philly area, Brian and Joshua.  I have talked to both of them for years on Instagram, and Joshua has read my blog for even longer than that.  It was really nice putting some faces with the names, and helping the guys have a fun and positive experience graphing at my home stadium.