June 20, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

On Saturday, Jesse and I made the trip to Durham to try and get a few more Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp out of my boxes. We also wanted to get more Durham Bulls done as well, but it was a tough night, since there weren't many people there graphing who knew the faces of players on either side.

Still, we did really well. We were able to get a couple guys on rehab, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. We also got Karson Milbrandt, who wasn't with Jacksonville the last time they came.

We missed most of the Durham guys we needed, but it was ok, we had a good time and will head back up there soon.

Something sweet happened to me, too. I was wearing my Alien Face hugger shirt that says "Free Hugs" that Mal got me a while back. A woman walked by us as we were graphing outside and saw it and said "I'm going to put your shirt to the test." Of course, I had forgotten what shirt I was even wearing, and as I realized "oh yeah, that shirt", she had pulled her little boy aside and told him to read it. He read it out loud "Free Hugs... oh!" and threw himself at me, much like my niece Ada does. It made my night. Little guy was probably her age, 4 or so. It was a pretty cool moment. All I could say was "Aww, thank you buddy".

In all, we got the following autographs: Griffin Conine x 2, Braxton Garrett x 5, Karson Milbrandt x 7, Gage Miller x 9, Graham Pauley x 3, Jared Serna x 11, Josh White x 1, Henry Bonilla x 2, Mason Englert x 1 and Cooper Kinney x 4 (45 total autographs).

August 10-15, 2021 Mudcats at Wood Ducks

After being away from the Wood Ducks for almost a month, I finally was able to get back to Grainger Stadium this week and do some graphing.  I was following up the National by getting some of my purchases signed, and they all turned out great (like the above 2020 Bowman Draft sapphire parallel of Thomas Saggese).

The series started on Tuesday with the much-anticipated return of pitcher, Owen White.  He has been out all year with a broken leg, and I was finally able to get some cards signed by him.

Some more National pickups; I had to pick up every Mason Englert that I could find.  I got them done, and they turned out awesome.

Here are a couple more Saggeses.  The purple Chrome parallel was way off-center, but the card is cool.  I had actually found two purple refractors (the one of the left isn't one, it is a purple paper parallel), so Chris got the better of the two.

I had received some customs from Rangersautos on Instagram (the Valentin) and my good friend, Dugan, made a few others.  So, I had some extra stuff to get done toward the end of the series.

I finally was able to get a 2015 Stars & Stripes of Noah Campbell signed for myself, as well as a bunch of cards of the returning Antione Kelly and Micah Bello.

Sal Frelick made his debut, after being drafted in the first round of the 2021 July Amateur Draft.  He was really nice, and signed one of Dugan's customs.  Frelick was impressed with the card that Dugan made, and Dugan actually gave him one ot the end of Sunday's game.

I probably should have scanned this Antione Kelly with the others, and the Frelick right here.  Oh well, this 2020 Topps Pro Debut turned out really well.  I was glad to get it out of my graphing box, because I was afraid the season would end before I could get it signed.

The big highlight of this series was that I was finally able to get my hands on some team sets.  I have been waiting all season for them, and they arrived while I was at the National.  There are several players in the set who have moved on to Hickory and several more on the DL.  I'm hoping some of those players come back, so I can get closer to finishing the set.

We got all of the coaches and also DEWD, who finally came out of hibernation.  I didn't miss any of the active players, and I am hoping a few come off of the DL by next series (like, Cody Freeman).

The team sets are really nice, but nothing will beat the 2019 Mudcats team set.  That one might be my favorite design so far that I have seen, even though I do like the Wood Ducks sets from 2017.

Finally, we realized that Rangers roving instructor, Geno Petralli, was in town (he even got ejected from Friday's game; the umpires were that bad).  I got every Petralli card that I could find signed, so I am now out of his stuff (I think).

I had a good time getting back to Grainger Stadium and spending some time with Dugan and Billy, as well as some of the other graphers.  The season is winding down, and I know I'm going to miss this when the off-season hits.

May 25-30 Graphing of Nationals at Mudcats and a Few Unlikely Autos

When we were planning to graph our next series of the Fredericksburg Nationals as Wood Ducks, Chris and I had no idea that some pretty big names were in town.  It took until Wednesday night to realize, but Bob and Bret Boone were in town watching Bret's son (Bob's grandson) play for the Nationals.  Bob Boone is also a special assistant in the Nationals organization, so his trip was also in an official capacity.

Bob Boone was really cool, every time we spoke with him.  We ended up having decently long conversations with him each time we talked to him.  I even had him sign a ball, which I have already put away.  I thought it would be a good idea to get Bob and Bret on the above 2016 Topps Archives Father & Son card, with also adding Jake to it.  Maybe someday, I can add Aaron Boone to the card.

I was able to get a nice assortment of Boone cards signed.  He was really friendly, which led to some nice conversation.  He is very opinionated, but was cool about it.  When I had asked him to sign my ball, I asked him for an inscription related to what we had chatted about the day before, but he said no, smiled and laughed.  It was really cool, though.

I was glad to get all of the cards I found signed, because I didn't realize Boone was there until Wednesday night.  I stayed up til 1:30 in the morning Thursday morning trying to locate cards.  I finally found a decent assortment in my to-be-TTMed box next to my Bret Boones.  I should have looked there first.

I got some nice Bret Boone cards signed.  I didn't do an extensive search for his stuff.  I had put a few aside a while back to send to a private signing that I ended up missing.  It turned out well, as I got quite a few of them done, and they all look great.  Chris got Bret first, and Bret told him it was his first time signing in a park as a fan.  Bret told me that he actually had played at Grainger Stadium when he was on the Peninsula team a long time ago.

In my planning for this series, I was able to find a 1990 CMC AAA in a box that my mom had given me.  I went to Sportlots to find some other cards of Pat Rice, and Jorge Mejia.  I was lucky to find a 2008 Bowman Chrome Mario Lisson in my boxes.

These three 2004 Bowman Jorge Mejias were really nice.  I had to order them.  The blue chrome in the middle was actually in one of those Topps sealed cases that I had to take apart to get the card out.  I think I paid a quarter for the card, so the case will be a shipper in the future.

Mitchell Parker pitched great in this series, even coming out after 6 no hit innings in his last start.  He had reached a pitch count.  He was super nice and signed everything we had.

I had found this Jeremy De La Rosa card in my 2021 Bowman box, so I was glad to get it signed.  I got another signed for a 50/50.

I finally got my 2019 Hickory team set card signed by Abdiel Mendoza.  My friend Gerard sent me two 2020 Bowman First Edition Tekoah Robys, so I was able to keep one.  Also, Thomas Saggese (pronounced Suh-Jay-See) was brought up, and he signed the one card we had.

Finally, I got these three 2019 Bowman Chrome parallels signed by our buddy, Mason Englert.  He had a rough outing today, complete with an ejection.  It sucks, but he talked to us afterward and let us know what had happened.  It was unfortunate, but doesn't change our opinion of him.  Chris and I both really like Mason, and he has pretty much become our go-to Wood Duck this season.  We also had a great conversation with Cody Freeman today, who seems like a great dude.

We had an awesome time this series, and got some very unlikely autos.  I was glad to be able to chat with Bob Boone.  Now time to wait for the next series, against Kannapolis in 2 weeks.

In all, we got: Mitchell Parker x 27, Bob Boone x 11, Bret Boone x 6, Evan Carter x 6, Antonio Cabello x 22, Abdiel Mendoza x 2, Tekoah Roby x 20, Leury Tejada x 25, Thomas Saggese x 1, Jayce Easley x 1, Randy Florentino x 1, Jake Boone x 1, Par Rice x 6, Mario Lisson x 1, Jeremy De La Rosa x 2, Jorge Mejia x 5, Mason Englert x 5 and Steve Mintz x 2.

May 11-16 Graphing Recap of Mudcats at Wood Ducks

Oh, how I have been waiting for this.  After not graphing at a game since August 2019, I was finally able to do some IP graphing at my home field, Grainger Stadium in Kinston.  COVID restrictions are somewhat easing, and I was able to get a bunch of cards signed that I had been stockpiling for a long time.

Chris and I hit every game of this 6-game series, and we took 50/50s for a kid on Instagram named Cal (a different Cal than the one I have worked with in the past) and also for my good friend, Jackson.

The Wood Ducks were almost strictly no graphs inside, with a couple exceptions.  It has been very confusing, as we have seen that MLB has lifted restrictions, apparently, but here, no one has seemed to get the memo.  Still, we were able to get stuff signed, and we respected the players as we did so.  All were very cool, and they seemed genuinely happy that we were season ticket holders and at every game so far.

Chris made a friend with Wood Ducks pitcher, Mason Englert.  He seems like a great guy, and chatted with us outside after every game.  We also got autographs from Ronald Acuna's brother, Luisangel, on baseballs for my friends, Gerard, Andrew and Jackson.  Chris and I have yet to get Acuna on anything for ourselves.

For the Mudcats, I feel a but guilty, as we racked Caden Lemons.  I happened to have a ton of his cards, but he signed for us each day, and was really cool about it.  He even thanked us for our support, even though we were Wood Ducks fans.

All of the Mudcats players were super nice, and we got a ton of cards signed by them.  A good many of the players had cards to get signed, so it was nice to have options.

Freddy Zamora was really cool. I talked to him a good bit outside, then again inside later on.  He played the first game, then may have gotten hurt, as he and Micah Bello didn't play the rest of the series.  Zamora represents my first signed 2021 Bowman.

I also got this sweet Panini Prizm signed that I had picked up from a card show a while back.  I ordered 2 more to come in for the next series that they play, since I know someone who is a huge Miami fan.  I know he's still reading this blog, so I guess I'm spoiling a surprise, but oh well.  Zamora promised me that he would sign my other cards when they come in.

Bello was also really nice, even though we talked to him only after the first game.

Finally, Arbert Cipion was really cool.  He was only 2-per, but it didn't matter to me.  It turned out that he is from the same town in New Jersey as my mother-in-law, so we talked about that for a while.  He said hey to Chris and I before and after each game, and always smiled.

It felt great to be back in my seats at Grainger Stadium.  I really missed IP graphing, and my hope is that things continue to open up and we get back to normal.

In all we got:  Evan Carter x 4, Mason Englert x 2, Tekoah Roby x 4, Leury Tejada x 7, Micah Bello x 9, Arbert Cipion x 6, Caden Lemons x 27, Freddy Zamora x 6, Luisangel Acuna x 3, Joe Gray, Jr. x 5, Bendan Murphy x 21, Zavier Warren x 3, Antonio Cabello x 11, Noah Campbell x 4, Dane Acker x 2, Justin Bullock x 3 and Christian Inoa x 2, for 124 autos.