Last week was Birthday Week, so I kicked off my days off starting on Tuesday by hitting Durham all day for some graphing. I got there at noon to do arrival and did pretty well. I was by myself until time to get in line to get in pregame. The goal of the trip was pretty simple; get the above 2020 Bowman Chrome orange refractor of Niko Hulsizer signed. I got it done on arrival, so the rest of the day was gravy.
Jalen Beeks forgot his code to get in the clubhouse door, so he was a bit of a captive audience. He signed all 8 cards i had in my book. I had two cards left over, so i asked him if he wanted those for his family, and he happily accepted. I thought i had Nick Dini already, but it looks like i had forgotten his cards the last time I was in Durham. So, I finally got his card signed. I was able to get Javy Guerra inside during stretching. I had to wait for him to finish stretching and warming up, but he did come over, climb the steps and ask "ok, let's see what you have got there..." I imagine he was expecting me to have cards of the other Javy Guerra, but no, I had his 2016 Bowman! He was impressed and signed both of my cards.
I only had the one 2022 Topps Update Cole Sulser, but got it signed during stretching. He was really nice. Silvino Bracho was with Louisville and signed all of the cards I had.
I didn't have a whole lot for Louisville, but did well, nonetheless. Matt Reynolds was the guy who put me on the board on this trip when he signed his 2016 Topps rookie card. It was good that I went out there on a Tuesday, the first game of the series. The Louisville players were unsure of which door to go in, and would ask me for directions. That let many of them let their guard down and they would sign for me.
I had to leave the game early due to rain. I had to make sure I got home at a decent time so I could get up early Wednesday for the next day of Birthday Week.
In all, I got the following autographs: Jalen Beeks x 8, Steve Chase x 2, Cooper Criswell x 1, Nick Dini x 4, Javy Guerra x 2, Niko Hulsizer x 2, Tsutomu Kamiya x 2, Cole Sulser x 1, Silvino Bracho x 8, Alejo Lopez x 1, Alec Mills x 3, Matt Reynolds x 1 and Teddy Stankiewicz x 1 (36 total autographs).
