Graphing the Astros At Wood Ducks on May 30, 2018

The Buies Creek Astros are the Carolina League team that I had the fewest cards of to get signed.  I also didn't have a whole lot in 50/50s to get done.  Add on top of that, the fact that I have finished a bunch of Wood Ducks, I wasn't too busy Thursday night.

Still, I got a few cards signed, and they all turned out great.  The above blue sparkle 2013 Topps Anthony Gose turned out so well.  I had bought the card off of COMC right when I saw that he was added to the roster.

These two Spike Owens came in the Goodwill boxes I bought in Winston-Salem back in April.  I especially like the Best of the National League 1990 Donruss.

Finally, the two guys I was able to get from Buies Creek, JJ Matijevic and Ronnie Dawson.  I tried to get Morgan Ensberg, but he wouldn't sign.

May 25-27, 2018 Graphing of Keys at Wood Ducks

I had a visit from my good friend, Michael this past weekend, and used that time with him to see three games between the Frederick Keys and Down East Wood Ducks.  I knocked out a bunch of cards while we were there, from both the Keys and Wood Ducks.

I finished all of the custom cards that Rangersautos made of the Wood Ducks, and I completed his 50/50s.  It was nice to get one out of the way.

I also knocked out a bunch of 50/50s for Gerard, including a couple of the above 3-way cards that include Eric Jeknins, and I also had last year's bat boy and now clubbie, Matt sign the Wood Ducks team card.  Matt stops and talks with Chris and I at every game, so I felt it was right to get him on a card.

I also finished off all of my Walker Weickels, and also Gerard's Wood Ducks team set.

I added a few new Anthony Gose, coming from a 50/50 from Gerard.  I was also glad to get the Hickory team set card of Spike Owen done.

I had ordered this 2016 Anthony Gose from COMC, but it didn't come in time.  Luckily, Gerard let me keep this one as part of the 50/50.

Gerard also let me keep this 2013 Topps Mini Gose.

I finally remembered to add the DEWD disc card to my autograph book and get it signed.  It may be goofy, but I thought it was cool to get him to sign it, especially since he couldn't see the card and signed my book instead.

Since the Keys don't come to town often, I made sure to knock out as much as I could.  I had been waiting for Jomar Reyes for a long time, since he was injured when the Keys came last year.

I finished off almost everything I had of Reyes.  I think I only had 2 cards left when the series ended.

I also used up every card I had of Ryan Minor.  I may try to get the triple rookie done, if one of my Texas buddies can get Adrian Beltre for me.

I also was lucky enough to get cards signed by Ryan McKenna.  He only would sign 2-per, and as the weekend went on, he kept refusing to sign for me, but would sign for Chris and Michael.  It was weird, but I guess it was because I was older.  It's ok, though, I have only 3 cards of him left.  The 2015 Bowman paper was a Christmas gift from my good friend, Anthony, and is numbered to 5.

I was able to get a couple of the regular Wood Duck fans that I see at every game to help me get my other McKennas signed.  The didn't mind, and I was able to add these to my album, as well.

Michael and I went to the card shop on Saturday, and I bought a pack of 2017 Elite Extra Edition.  The first card in the pack was the above Michael Baumann.  I prepped the card and got it into my book for that night's game.  I was also happy to add Alex Wells.  He was pretty nice, even though I only got to see him one time.

I also was able to get three cards done from my 2017 South Atlantic League All Star set done.  I picked this set up in Columbia a couple weeks ago, and three of the guys ended up being with the Keys.

It was also nice being able to knock out a bunch of the Ironbirds team set cards that I got at the end of the season last year.

One of the cool things about the Keys was that Preston Palmeiro (son of Rafael) was playing.  I got to speak to him, and had him sign a Carolina League ball, as well as the above team set card.

 I got a lot of this team set done.  Some of the autos didn't turn out too great, but I figured it out early, and prepped the rest.

In all, Chris, Michael and I had fun.  I hate that McKenna kept denying me, but that's what happens with graphing sometimes.

Graphing the Wood Ducks Home Opener and More

Much like the Orioles season, my graphing season has gotten off to a rocky start.  Unlike the Orioles season, however, I expect my graphing to improve.  I was all gung-ho on the season starting, then winter decided that it wanted to stick around, and in turn, I have gotten really sick.  I have already bypassed two games due to illness, and it has set me back a little bit on taking care of some 50/50s, and getting some stuff for myself signed.

I have gotten a lot of stuff done, though, and I am fairly happy with the results so far.  The above 2017 Bowman Holiday Edition Ugly Christmas Sweater parallel might be one of the coolest cards I have gotten so far.

I caught the Wood Ducks home opener last Thursday (April 12) against Myrtle Beach, with my son and my brother.  Myrtle Beach didn't have many guys with available cards that I could find in my boxes, so this was primarily a means to knock out some of my Wood Ducks cards before some scheduled 50/50s came in.  I knocked out a lot of my Hickory team sets, and finished the Elite die cut Lemoine I had sitting since last year.

I did really well with Leody Taveras and Jake Lemoine.  Anything else I get signed by them wil be either 50/50s or for trades because I knocked them out early.

I had found quite a few guys at the Chantilly show, like the 2015 Bowman green refractor of Michael Matuella.  The card looks really sharp.  I have gotten everything signed by Matuella that I had built up over the off-season.  I have learned that getting pitchers to sign is tough because they don't always come out of the bullpen onto the field before the game.  I can foresee that I will end up with extra Jake Lemoine cards by the end of the season, so I may hand off quite a few cards to kids at games.

I had to buy Walker Weickel's cards off of Sportlots; I also had to bust two sets to get James Jones's cards that you see above.  I found out that he was the former outfielder, so I searched my boxes for his stuff, to no avail.  Luckily, my friend, Gerard, sent me some others for 50/50s, so I can replace the ones I removed from the sets.

After the 4 games I have been to, Spike Owen already seems like he doesn't really like signing.  I have gotten him on the cards that I especially wanted, so I doubt I will bother him much more throughout the season.

This Stars and Stripes Lemoine turned out really nicely, except the scan doesn't show the auto very well.

I kept missing Blaine Prescott during the earlier games I went to, but I finally got him on Saturday.

I completely missed Chuck LeBlanc in my Bowman box.  Mainly because I was looking for Chuck and not Charles LeBlanc.  He's a strict two-per, so I need a few more trips to the park to finish him off.

I found the green Beras and Tejeda at the Chantilly show.  It appears that was the theme of this series of graphing; green parallels.

Finally, I only was able to get two Pelicans on cards.  I tried to get Alex Lange, but he wouldn't sign.  I found two of the Bryan Hudson and the one DJ Wilson at the Chantilly show in dime boxes.  I was glad to at least get those done.

In all, during the Myrtle Beach Series, I got: Spike Owen x 8, Michael Matuella x 8, Jake Lemoine x 9, Alex Kowalczyk x 1, Leody Taveras x 8, Chuck LeBlanc x 4, Brendon Davis x 3, Jairo Beras x 2, Anderson Tejeda x 8, Blaine Prescott x 3, Carlos Maldonado x 1, Ricky Valencia x 2, Preston Scott x 1, Walker Weickel x 4, Christian Torres x 1, Steve Mintz x 3, Emerson Martinez x 1, James Jones x 2, Kenny Hook x 2, Jonathan Hernandez x 3, Jairo Beras x 2, Bryan Hudson x 2 and DJ Wilson x 1.

Graphing The Wood Ducks Exhibition Game

A new season is upon us, and I had the opportunity to see the new-look Wood Ducks take on Mount Olive University last night in an exhibition game.  Last season, the exhibition game rained out.  Last night started off warm, but the temperature dropped and the wind picked up.  I had to go to the team store and buy a hoodie because I left mine at home.

I was really excited about this season's roster because there are a bunch of Rangers prospects who came up to start the season.  Jake Lemoine is one who made the jump from Hickory.  I got the above 2015 Elite Extra Edition die cut numbered to 25 signed.

There are a few holdovers from last season's Carolina League Co-Champions.  I was able to get 6 cards from the team set signed.  Emerson Martinez was really happy to see Chris last night.  He even "signed" Chris's nose during the post-game autograph session.

I had purchased the late edition of the 2017 Hickory team set, as I knew a lot of those guys would be on the Wood Ducks roster this season.  I knocked out a bunch of them last night.

Three of the early 2017 Hickory set got signed, as did one from the 2016 set.  I don't have many of the 16s remaining who are still with the Rangers.

Anderson Tejeda is one of the higher Rangers prospects on the Wood Ducks this season.  I was able to get my South Atlantic League card taken care of, which helped with that set.

This Jake Lemoine Stars and Stripes Crusade insert turned out really nicely.  I had hoped to add a few cards from that series to the album, and Lemoine turns out to be the first.

I picked up a bunch of Panini Contenders cards from my LCS, and took care of several last night.  I especially like the School Colors versions; they look really cool signed.

Leody Taveras is another high-end prospect who will be in Kinston this year.  He signs two per, but I had help last night, and he signed everything I had during the post-game autograph session.

I know some folks will enjoy the Panini Contenders cards of Michael Matuella, since he played for Duke.

Spike Owen only signed pre-game, and only signed 2-per.  He most likely will be like Howard Johnson was last season; so it will take me a while to knock out everything I have for him.  Carlos Maldonado has a few nice cards, but the only one I had in my collection as of last night was the 2007 Upper Deck.  I believe I ordered some of his stuff off of Sportlots.

Also, Matthew Whatley is one of the Rangers newest prospects.  He was drafted last June, and is already at High A.  He completely bypassed A ball (Hickory).

Finally, Jairo Beras is back with the Wood Ducks to continue his transformation into a pitcher.  He was demoted to Hickory last season to work on transitioning to a pitcher.  I'm interested in seeing his progress this season.

I had some help getting autographs last night, my brother Andy, his fiancee Camryn and my son Chris all helped out.

I ended up with: Josh Altmann x 3, Edgar Arredondo x 2, Jairo Beras x 6, Ledarious Clark x 3, Brendon Davis x 1, Kaleb Fontenot x 2, Jonathan Hernandez x 1, Alex Kowalczyk x 1, Chuck LeBlanc x 1, Jake Lemoine x 8, Carlos Maldonado x 4, Emerson Martinez x 3, Michael Matuella x 12, Christian Torres x 2, Matthew Whatley x 5, Ricky Valencia x 3, CD Pelham x 4, Preston Scott x 2, Jacob Shortslef x 2, Walker Weickel x 2, Spike Owen x 4, Leody Taveras x 12 and Anderson Tejeda x 10.  In all, we got 93 cards signed.  Some of which were 50/50s for my friend, Gerard.  My next game is Thursday, April 12; the Wood Ducks home opener against Myrtle Beach.

First Graphing of 2018 - Down East Wood Ducks Hot Stove Event

Now that we are thawing out here in eastern North Carolina, one of the first signs of Spring is upon us.  Graphing has resumed here on the blog, as I have returned from the annual Down East Wood Ducks Hot Stove Event.  I didn't know about the event last season, but this year, I wasn't going to miss it.  Thankfully, the USPS finally cooperated and got me most of the cards I ordered for the event in my hands before I left the house tonight.

The above 2015 Topps Update Chrome gold shimmer parallel was the card that I absolutely wanted in my hands before I left for the event, and thankfully, it was here at 5PM when I got off of work.  It came down to the wire, but I got the card in and got it signed.  This is numbered 32/250 and turned out really great!

I had gone online last week and bought several nice Delino DeShields, Jr. parallels, thinking I should have no problem with them getting here before today.  The snow storm that came in last Wednesday really made me sweat it out, especially since the USPS didn't deliver mail to my house until today.  This 2016 Topps mini blue parallel is numbered 8/10.

I was really excited about this 2016 Topps sapphire parallel, and I was right to be so.  It came out really nicely.

DeShields signed everything Chris, my wife and I all had.  One drawback was some of the cards were a little curved, and that doesn't lend well to scanning.

DeShields was really nice.  The event had a "social hour" before dinner, so you could just walk around the room and chat with whomever, while checking out silent auction items.  I saw DeShields right away and he walked up to us immediately and signed for the three of us.  Later on, as he was scoping out the silent auction items, I spoke with him at length, until some guy in a suit butted in and interrupted us.  DeShields is a really nice, classy guy, and I am glad I was able to hang with him for a bit.  I asked him if he was ever star struck at meeting anyone, but he said that with growing up in baseball, he never really had that happen.  He did go on to say that at Spring Training the season when Derek Jeter was retiring, Jeter remembered him as a kid, which DeShields said meant a lot to him.

We met Rangers reliever, Nick Gardewine.  He is fresh of making his Major League debut.  We talked for a while about how it felt having been in the majors now, and what this offseason has been like for him.  He is only 24, so it was really nice to see and talk to a kid who is truly living his dream.

Howard Johnson has been promoted from Wood Ducks manager to AAA hitting coach.  Taking his place is former Major Leaguer, Spike Owen.  Owen was really nice to us, and signed the 9 cards that the three of us had.

Also in attendance was Rangers manager, Jeff Banister.  I picked this 1992 Topps Prospects card off of EBay, and am glad I did.  It turned out really nicely, I think.

Along with Banister and Owen, Matt Hagen, the Hickory Crawdads manager made the trip to Kinston.  Hagen was really funny, as I asked him if he knew where Matt Hagen was.  He said, "Yeah, I do, actually..."  Then he looked around a bit and said "Oh, yeah, that's me!"  So we laughed and chatted about how we may make the trip to Hickory this season.  He was super nice, and I hope that I can say hello to him if we do go up that way.

Chris posed for pictures with some of the guests; here is Delino DeShields, Jr.

This is Chris with Nick Gardewine.

The event had a roundtable discussion with DeShields and Gardewine.  It was really interesting hearing them talk about being called up to the majors and some of the preparation that they go through for games.

Chris and I got to see the Mills Cup, which the Wood Ducks shared last season with Lynchburg.

The event wasn't too crowded, but there were a decent amount of people there.  I saw a few folks I knew from games, so that was nice.

In even won a ball at the silent auction!  This Delino DeShields, Jr. signed baseball was a last minute bid that I put in and actually won!  Someone outbid me on another ball right at the last second.  Not fair!

Anyway, I had a really good time at the event.  For $30/person, we had a really good time.  Food was provided by Kings BBQ, so it was a really nice dinner out with the family.  I'm so excited for the upcoming season, and to get some cards signed!