May 2025 Graphing of the Mud Monsters at Bird Dawgs

Last week, the other Frontier League expansion team (the Mississippi Mud Monsters) was in Kinston for a 6-game series.  I missed Tuesday's game for family reasons, and Wednesday's game was a day game, so I got to 4 of the 6 games. I only needed two to get all of the cards I picked up signed.

I used gosportscards.com to find most of the cards; I had three of them on my own.  I was really glad to get my 2010 Topps Pro Debut Jamie McOwen cards out of my box.  I also got my Luis Devers 2022 Myrtle Beach team set card done.

My 2023 Augusta team set card of Tyree Thompson also got done.  I was also pleasantly surprised at the quality of Rodney Theophile's autograph. He took his time and put a great signature on my stuff.

A highlight to Saturday's game was that my brother, Philip, brought his family to the game.  My nephew, Lonnie, was picked to be the 'Play Ball' kid.  He got to go on the field and yell play ball to start the game. 

Lonnie had a blast at the game.  Something tells me he will be back to another one soon.

In all, I got the following autographs: Last night's graphing recap of the Mud Monsters at Bird Dawgs: Chris Barraza x 2, Luis Devers x 3, Victor Diaz x 4, Ti'Quan Forbes x 1, Jamie McOwen x 2, Karell Paz x 3, Jay Pecci x 3, Sergio Sanchez x 11, Rodney Theophile x 8 and Tyree Thompson x 2, Kyle Booker x 11 and Davis Bradshaw x 1 (51 total autographs).

July 8, 2017 Graphing of the Astros at Wood Ducks

It has been a marathon weekend of graphing for me.  I wasn't going to go yesterday, but I ended up in Kinston, anyway, since my good friend, Gerard, wanted one of the Bill Ellis bobble heads that they were giving away.  I also finished up all of the Buies Creek Astros that I had, as well as several more Wood Ducks.

I finally got Peter Fairbanks on a couple cards.  He has been just as tough as Lipka, and also wasn't all that friendly.  I saw him shaking his head as he walked over, then he was really short with me while I was chatting with him.  I'm ok with it, but I just hope that he isn't that way with Chris when he gets back, because Chris really likes him.  Maybe he was just having a had day, so I'll chalk it up to that.

I finished off all of the Ti'quan Forbes cards that I had.  He's really nice, and seems to be enjoying his promotion to Kinston.

I finally finished all of the Matt Lipka cards that I had, which was nice.  He actually stopped pre-game two days in a row, so maybe not that his bat is heating up, he will be more willing to sign for fans.

Finally, I got two more specialty Howard Johnsons signed.  The left card is a 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best, and the right is a 1987 Topps Tiffany.  I still have Johnsons to get signed, but I am done with everything I have bought special.

I now can take a week off from graphing and can kind of reset.  It has been a busy week, but enjoyable.  I am also ready for Chris to get back.

July 7 Graphing of Wood Ducks Vs. Astros

The Wood Ducks returned home tonight from a successful 3-game road trip where they won a series against the Winston-Salem Dash.  They carried that momentum into tonight's game and beat the Buies Creek Astros 7-1.  I had a great time tonight, as it was a return home for me, as well.  My last graphing experience didn't go as well as I had hoped, so a return to the friendly confines of Grainger Stadium was welcome.

I took this photo tonight and it was featured during the weather on WITN's 11:00 PM newscast.  I was really excited about that.

I have only been placing two cards of Howard Johnson in my autograph book, now, since he has pretty much been doing two-per at each game.  I have a couple nice cards, still, that I would like to get signed, so I hope I can get them during the next few games.  That way, I can finish the 50/50 from Gerard, and wrap up the season without too many cards left over.

The 2009 Topps Tribute turned out amazingly.  It is numbered  115/219.  The 1990 Donruss Best of The National League is also really cool.  I always loved the 1990 design, so adding a "parallel" (even though it isn't a parallel) to that was really cool.

I came home with one each of newcomer Yeyson (pronounced Jason) Yrizarri, Brett Martin, Jeremy Moore and Matt Lipka.  Lipka actually signed two, but one is for Gerard.  I was really happy that Lipka signed for me pre-game.  I hope I can get the last two cards of him taken care of.  His bat is coming to life, so maybe that has helped his demeanor.  Not that he was mean or anything, maybe he just doesn't like to sign.  That's fair enough.  I had a lengthy conversation with Brett Martin, which is always enjoyable.  I also spoke with Jeremy Moore twice.  He specifically asked about Chris, which was really cool.  Chris is on a trip, so when he gets back, we will have to make a point to go to Kinston so he can say hello to all of these guys.

Speaking of newcomers to the team, Ti-quan Forbes was recently promoted to the Wood Ducks.  I had a bunch of cards of him, so I went ahead and got the best of the bunch taken care of.  With him and Yrizarri, I knocked two more cards off of my Hickory set.  That was really nice.  I could have gotten a third, but I have yet to be able to get Peter Fairbanks.  I am kind of waiting for Chris to come back, since he told Fairbanks that he is his new favorite player.  I can always wait til after the game outside to get those cards taken care of.

Another newcomer to the Carolina League is Astros prospect, Forrest Whitley.  He signed two of the four cards that I had.  I will try Buies Creek at least one more time, so I think I can get the rest taken care of.

I went to the card shop while on my lunch today, and along with the Whitleys, I also picked up two Jake Rogers.  He was really nice, and signed both cards.

I also picked up these two Anthony Hermelyn cards that turned out really nice.

Finally, I had gotten a couple Brett Adcock cards from the shop, and also from an order on COMC.  I have a couple left over, but these were the best of the bunch.  That blue parallel really looks nice.

I felt so much better following this game, as opposed to the Salem Red Sox game.  I think it was a return to the field I am familiar with (graphing, at least) that helped.  Also, it was Food Truck Friday, and the food was amazing.  Maybe that was it.