May 2, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

Last night, Jesse and I headed back to Durham to catch the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. I prepped for the trip over the last couple of weeks. I even took a small box of the cards with me on a work trip to Minnesota and prepped cards in the hotel room.

The Jumbo Shrimp roster was loaded with guys with cards. We got almost everyone we could get, missing a couple guys, and not having cards for a couple others. 

It was really nice seeing Maximo Acosta again. He remembered me from the Wood Ducks and thanked me again for giving him some cards back then. Getting his 2026 Topps card signed was a good choice.

Kemp Alderman was pretty cool. He signed a bunch of our stuff. He joked that he had a $5 fee, but we laughed about it. I had heard that Jacob Berry was a tough get, but he came right over when we asked him. The 2024 Panini Crusade he signed turned out great.

Let's pause a minute to marvel in the awesome signature that Heriberto Hernandez gave us on our 2026 Topps Heritage cards. I could have saved him the trouble and did those myself. We'll, we got ink on the cards and they're in the album. So, his little scribble os what it is.

Deyvison De Los Santos hit a bunch of cards after we were told he hadn't signed much all week.

Jared Eickhoff was pretty cool. He signed for us outside. Joe Mack and Andrew Pintar were one per, but Pete and a kid took two of my Pintars and got them done for me.

Jared Serna was such a nice guy. He signed everything we had. He talked to us for a bit outside while he signed.

I was surprised that Robby Snelling signed everything we had. I was glad that a few of the Jumbo Shrimp guys finished everything I had. I plan to see them again when they come back through later in the season, but if I don't have much left, I may see where else I can go.

Thomas White also signed everything we had for him. I was glad to get his 2025 Pro Debut insert card signed (middle of the top row in the scan above).

We got a select few Durham guys outside. I finally saw Homer Bush, Jr. He has been on their roster for a bit but hasn't been in Durham.

 I saw today that Joe Mack was called up to the Marlins. That was really cool. The game was pretty good. Bradley Blalock struck out 12 in 6 innings, at one point he struck out 7 in a row.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Kemp Alderman x 6, Jesus Bastidas x 2, Jacob Berry x 2, Bradley Blalock x 2, Zach Brzykcy x 2, Jose Ceballos x 2, Deyvison De Los Santos x 12, Jerad Eickhoff x 3, Dax Fulton x 1, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Joe Mack x 2, Zach McCambley x 4, Cody Morissette x 3, Andrew Pintar x 4, Ethan O'Donnell x 2, Jared Serna x 11, Robby Snelling x 8, Luke Terwilliger x 3, Thomas White x 8, Cooper Bowman x 1, Homer Bush Jr x 4, Jonathan Heasley x 4, Trevor Martin x 1 and Blake Sabol x 4 (95 total autographs). 

June 18, 2023, Graphing of the Hot Rods at Crawdads

This past Sunday, I finally got around to visiting Hickory.  It was great being able to see Cody Freeman again.  My friend, Jessie, gave me the above team set card to get signed.  It is always nice when someone is excited to see you, and it seemed like Chris and I made Cody's day.

I was able to get three of the Wood Ducks cards signed of guys who moved up after the set was photographed.

We were told by some other graphers pre-game that Alejandro Osuna hadn't touched a pen all season and Maximo Acosta wouldn't sign for us.  Both recognized us and stopped to sign, which was cool to see them prove those guys wrong. 

The Crawdads were playing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, and I was able to get a bunch of Rays stuff out of my minors box.  Brock Jones was really nice and signed everything we had.

Dru Baker, Carson Williams and Willy Vazquez were all one per.  I was also able to get Tony Locey on a 2019 Bowman Draft.  I had sent to him TTM but never got the cards back.  I wish the orange refractor I had sent him had at least come back RTS because I'd have loved to have gotten it signed.

Chris and I did really well and got most of everything signed that we brought with us.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Dane Acker x 2, Cody Freeman x 1, Tucker Mitchell x 6, Jackson Kelley x 4, Abi Ortiz x 6, Alejandro Osuna x 4, Dru Baker x 2, JJ Goss x 2, Brock Jones x 11, Tony Locey x 1, Nick Schnell x 1, Willy Vasquez x 1 and Carson Williams x 2 (45 total autographs). 

Graphing Recap of April 2022 Mudcats at Wood Ducks

Another homestand has come and gone, this one being an eventful one between regional rivals, the Carolina Mudcats and Down East Wood Ducks.  Usually, there isn't much of a rivalry; but this series saw benches and bullpens clear twice, and a lot of chirping going on.  Luckily, no one really came to blows, and only one person was ejected (that I saw).

I was able to get a lot of cards signed, and finished off all of what I had for the Mudcats.  The above 2021 Bowman Draft chrome mojo parallel of Eduardo Garcia is one I actually pulled myself, so it was nice to get it signed.

Several of the Mudcats have cards, and the signature I liked the most was Hendry Mendez on the 2022 Bowman First Edition.  He has a cool signature, and I was glad a fellow Instagrammer sent two, so I could get one signed.  He also sent several Hedbert Perez cards, one of which is the 2021 Bowman Draft Chrome shown above.

I ordered a Jeferson Quero Ray Wave parallel from Ebay, and it turned out great, even though Quero's signature looks like a bike.

My friend, Gerard, sent an assortment of Guilder Rodriguez cards, and I got a good many of them signed.  I have a bunch left, still, but those can be gotten over the course of the next few months.

I added a 2022 Bowman First Edition of Maximo Acosta, as well as his 2021 Bowman Chrome.  I also picked up a few Jose Rodriguez 2022 Bowman First Editions off of Ebay, so I could add him to the album.

Finally, Gerard ordered a few Dylan MacLeans to be delivered to the house, and they got here in time to be added to the book to get signed.  Dylan even liked the color parallel.

I had a good time this series, even with the jawing back and forth between the two teams.  It is a long season, and I think there will still be some animosity when the Mudcats come back to town.

In all, I got the following signatures this series:  Guilder Rodriguez x 14, Jeferson Quero x 28, Eduardo Garcia x 18, Leury Tejada x 6, Dylan MacLean x 11, Hendry Mendez x 2, Hedbert Perez x 11, Arbert Cipion x 6, Maximo Acosta x 8, Jose Rodriguez x 7 and Micah Bello x 1 (112 total signatures).

Graphing Recap of April 12-16, 2022, Cannonballers at Wood Ducks

The Wood Ducks home opener was this past week, and I finished off all of the cards I had for Kannapolis by the double-header on Saturday.  I also knocked out a few more Maximo Acostas.  The above speckle parallel turned out nicely, and scanned amazingly.

I don't want to blow up Acosta, so I haven't presented many cards to him to sign.  I got quite a few during the series, since Alex was in town, and Chris was able to go to the games.

I took a few 50/50s, and the ones that had come in by the time the series came around were from my good friend, Gerard.  The above 2020 Panini Prizm tiger stripe parallel of Dylan MacLean is numbered 1/99 and looks awesome.

For whatever reason, I had a hard time identifying Brooks Gosswein.  I finally was able to get him to sign on Frida, after a funny conversation with Jared Kelley (an amazingly nice guy) and another of the Ballers pitchers.  As I was talking to Kelley about not being able to find Gosswein prior to the other three games, a pitcher walked up and said I'm Brooks.  Since another of the pitchers said he would sign as Brooks for me, I figured this was the same case.  I told him "Hey, if you tell me you're Brooks, I'll take it."  He asked "You don't believe me?  What does my glove say?"  It said Brooks Gosswein.  He was very nice and signed all we had.  He stayed to chat for a few minutes about the cards I had brought and apologized for my not being able to spot him; it turns out, he was working out one night and was with a trainer another and I really just missed him.

I added a new James Beard to the autograph album with the above 2021 Topps Heritage Minors card.  Wes Kath was one per, but was pretty nice.  I had a conversation with Adisyn Coffey about his time spent in Mount Carmel, IL, since my awesome friend, Andrew, is from there.  I also got one of Andrew's cards signed.

I added a bunch of Jared Kelley cards to the album, and got every 2010 Topps Pro Debut that i had of Cam Seitzer signed.  The 2012 Bowman Chrome green parallel of Seitzer was a card I found on Sportlots.

John Ely was awesome as always.  He is very friendly, and chatted with me a bit each day.

I was out of Guillermo Quiroz cards, so I ordered a bunch off of Sportlots.  He signed everything across a few days, and I am glad to add some of these cards to the album.

Quiroz has a lot of nice stuff, from an era where there were a lot of sets being made.  I'm glad that I picked up what I did.

Finally, on Tuesday, I was interviewed for WITN news about opening night and collecting autographs.  Fellow grapher, Jessie Jones, was also interviewed.  It was a lot of fun, and I was able to call out Chris for making my buy Nick Lockhart hot dogs last season (and Chris telling Nick that he was the one paying for them).  Maddie Kerth was the reporter who interviewed us, and as a gesture that I thought up, I told her that we would take her business card, only if she autographed them for us.  She thought that was a really funny/cool touch and obliged with a signature.

Click here for the link to the interview that aired Tuesday night.  Even my buddy, Alex, made a cameo in the wide shot of where we were sitting. 

The Wood Ducks split the series after splitting the double header Saturday night.  Stick around to see what Alex, Chris and I did prior to the Wood Ducks games this week, and on Sunday when they were off. 

Graphing Recap - 2022 Wood Ducks Meet the Team Event

Happy Opening Day!  For some folks, at least.  Tomorrow, more teams will start, along with minor leagues.  The Wood Ducks start on the road at the Mudcats, so tonight, they had their "Meet the Team" event for season ticket holders.  It was a real nice time, even though they scaled it back due to the threat of rain (it didn't rain on us).  I was hoping for some free food.

This season, Maximo Acosta is the big prospect who is on the Wood Ducks roster, and I preemptively bought some nice Bowman Chrome parallels off of Ebay with a gift card that my wife got me for Christmas or my birthday (I can't remember how long I've had it).  The above 2021 Bowman Chrome Ray Wave refractor is just an awesome-looking card.  I got it for 5 bucks, and couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

The black and white speckle parallel (top right) was another card I bought in a lot on Ebay.  The other two haven't been signed yet.

I was also able to add Dylan MacLean; he was in 2021 Topps Pro Debut and 2021 Heritage Minors.

Finally, my friend, Gerard, hooked me up with the pink chrome refractor of Guilder Rodriguez; I was also able to knock a couple Hickory team set cards out of new Wood Ducks coach, Justin Jacobs.

In all, Chris and I got 20 autographs.  This was a great way to kick off the season, and I hope they do this again.