May 23, 2026, Graphing of the Nashville Sounds at Durham Bulls

Last night, I flew solo and went to Durham to catch the Nashville Sounds while they were in town. I was afraid the weekend would be a washout, weather-wise, but all we got were cooler temperatures and some fog.

I was prepared for a pretty stacked roster, and did fairly well on my own. With all the one per guys, it would have been nice to have another pair of hands with me to help, but it's all good, since Nashville visits Durham again in August, and they will be in Norfolk too.

I finally got JB Bukauskus, a guy that I've missed so many times. That Greg Jojes card at the middle of the bottom row is actually a foil card; the scan makes it look like it is a base card.

The Nashville guys were pretty nice, for the most part. I got ignored by Junior Fernandez, which sucked because I had a really cool red foil Topps Fire card I wanted to get signed. I really liked the foil card I picked up of Drew Rom (bottom, far right). He's a really cool guy, and always seems happy to sign.

I dod get several of the Brewers' top guys, like Jett Williams, Cooper Pratt and Brock Wilken. Tyler Thornburg didn't seem all that happy to sign, but he did. It was nice seeing a 2010 Bowman show up in my recap.

I also chipped away at the Durham Bulls team set. I got a couple of the staff guys, and also Raynel Delgado and Evan Reifert.

I also had no shame in getting Wool E Bull again.

I graphed alongside an older guy named Bo who sat with me during the game. The crowd was light, with most folks scared off by the cloud cover. I did have a great conversation with a kid who had a bunch of questions about graphing toward the end of the game. A nice kid named Judah who was visiting the area from Southern Maryland with his family. I hope they enjoyed Durham and made it home safely.

In all, I got the following autographs: JB Bukauskas x 6, Greg Jones x 2, Reiss Knehr x 1, Luis Lara x 3, Luis Matos x 2, Easton McGee x 2, Ethan Murray x 1, Cooper Pratt x 2, Drew Rom x 2, Jett Williams x 2, Brock Wilken x 2, Tyler Thornburg x 3, Craig Yoho x 1, Raynel Delgado x 2, Mason Englert x 2, Dominic Keegan x 1, Evan Reifert x 2, Dalton Payfer-Lockling x 2, Lucas Grennan x 2, Homer Bush Jr x 2 and Wool E Bull x 2 (50 total autographs).

More 50/50s From John In Texas

I got a package in the mail a couple weeks ago from my friend, John, in Texas.  In it was another stack of 50/50s that he was able to complete for me.  I had forgotten that I sent him these cards, but they got done and look great.  The highlight is this 2018 Bowman Chrome JB Bukauskas atomic refractor numbered to 150.

John got me a ton of Bukauskas, since I missed him last year when Buies Creek came through.  John looks like he was really persistent with him, and got me a bunch of cards done.

I had even tried to get my friend, Ben, to get some of these done last year, but by the time he got to the games, Bukauskas was already called up to AA.

I'm trying to avoid typing Bukauskas too much, but it is tough.

Man, that was a lot of Bukauskas cards.

It is always nice when I can add a 2017 Wood Ducks card to my set.  There are a couple of guys who will be impossible to get, but for the most part, I have done well with the set.

John also started me a Frisco set, and they look really cool.  It is nice to see some AA cards of the former Wood Ducks.

A lot of these guys are missed, and one of them (Altmann) is back.

Ronnie Dawson has started personalizing, but that's ok.  I aready had the 2017 Heritage Minors, and the Top Prospects card is mine anyway.

Finally, John got this Justin Ferrell card signed for my Buies Creek set from 2017.  I liked this design, and am glad to get it back signed.