August 26, 2025, Graphing of the FerryHawks at Blue Crabs

With some PDOs to burn, I took time off on Tuesday to make a quick trip to Southern Maryland.  The Staten Island FerryHawks were there, with Pablo Sandoval in tow.  Chris wanted to see him again, and I was happy to oblige.

I bought a bunch of team set cards to bring along to get signed, and for the most part, I wasn't disappointed.  One of the cards I found was this Cards Against Humanity-style card of Brian McKenna.  He told us while we were sitting behind the bullpen at the game about why the card existed.  The team he played for (The Joliet Slammers) had been purchased by Cards Against Humanity, so each player got their own card.  He told me that the cards are pretty hard to find.  I agreed; I paid 10 bucks for it.  I'm glad it got signed, and that McKenna was cool.

I found some cool team set cards of most everyone. Also, there were a few guys with mainstream cards, like Eddy Diaz with 2021 Bowman cards.  My favorite from this group was the Long Island Ducks card of Tyler Dearden.  It's just a cool card.

Drew Maggi also had some mainstream stuff.  I had gotten him before, and he was easy to spot.  McKenna also had a Florence Y'alls card, which looks nice.

The card Sandoval signed was a Topps Archives card using the 1986 Topps design.

I found some cool cards of Jamari Baylor and Connor Overton.  The 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire orange refractor turned out great.  I also finally got Andrew Thurman, who I had tried a couple times TTM and never got anything back.

Ethan Wilson was nice.  We got him outside pregame.  I hated bothering him, but he was nice enough to sign.  I also got my Myrtle Beach team set card of Jarod Wright out of my box.

Nate Roe was nice.  He liked how I had found some of his older stuff.   He pointed them out to another player who was nearby.  Also, Kolby Johnson was super nice. 

For the most part, Chris and I had a great time.  We ran into a very rude player while we were graphing outside after the game. I'm not going to give him any more of my energy.  Aside from that, we had a great time and the weather was beautiful. 

In all, we got the following autographs: Robbie Baker x 2, Mark Contreras x 3, Tyler Dearden x 3, Eddy Diaz x 7, Durbin Feltman x 2, Clay Helvey x 2, Kolby Johnson x 2, Trayson Kubo x 2, Drew Maggi x 3, Brian McKenna x 3, Christian Rodriguez x 2, Nate Roe x 2, Pablo Sandoval x 2, Matt Scheffler x 2, Kirby Snead x 2, Jamari Baylor x 7, Sam Dexter x 2, Connor Overton x 3, Andrew Thurman x 6, Ethan Wilson x 5 and Jarod Wright x 5 (67 total autographs).

Mom Goes Graphing

Our trip to Winston-Salem this past week got a little interesting after Chris and I sat with Mom Friday morning during her chemo treatment.  We had planned to sit with her since she would be missing Chris's graduation.  After the treatment, we dropped Mom off so she could nap, and Chris and I went and sat with Grandma again for a little aver an hour and a half.  We went back to Mom's after, and my dad suggested that I tale Mom with us so she could go to Chris's graduation anyway, as she was feeling pretty decent after the chemo.  

There was one catch, Chris and I already had tickets to High Point to see them take on the Staten Island FerryHawks and try to get Pablo Sandoval on a couple cards.  Mom said she'd go with us to the game, so I jumped online and found a ticket right behind the two we had already purchased. 

Mom ended up taking a Sandoval card and got it signed.  Sandoval was doing one per, so it was nice to get an additional card done.  She hung with Chris and I for a bit until she got Sandoval, then she found our seats and rested.  Boy, did she rest...

Chris snapped this picture to me of Mom dozing off as he and I racked the FerryHawks.  Still, it was fun for her to see us in action.

I had spent a good bit of time searching cards for this game; I also picked up (most) of the Drew Maggi cards shown above, as well as the above William Kirwan card showing him on the Frederick ?s.

I was able to rescue a bunch of cards from my boxes for this game.  The Joe Dunand cards above were last-minute finds right before we left town.

The Jimmie Sherfy cards I found were previously pulled last season in hopes of seeing him, but I didn't get to a game he was at.  The Mike Shawaryn cards came from an old team bag of cards sent back by Gerard.  I think I pulled them for him, then Shawaryn was let go by the Red Sox (I tbink).

Mom did wake up and enjoy the game.  She thought it was cool that she knew who Frank Viola was, so I sent her and Chris over to the High Point side post-game to try and get him while I figured out who Kirwan was.  They both cleaned up on my Violas.

I'm so glad Mom got to come and experience graphing with Chris and I.  She was able to get to Chris's graduation and got to see him walk, which was great.  She also made it to the party and met our friends, even a couple from our graphing group at the Wood Ducks.

In all, we got the following autographs: Frank Viola x 13, Joe Dunand x 2, Nate Griep x 8, Korry Howell x 2, William Kirwan x 1, Drew Maggi x 8, Pablo Sandoval x 3, Mike Shawaryn x 6 and Jimmie Sherfy x 3 (46 total autographs).