September 2022 Graphing of Tides at Bulls

With several PDOs to burn, I took two days off this week to go up to Durham for Stranger Things night on Thursday and also to do some graphing for what might be my last time this season.  The Norfolk Tides were in Durham, and I was able to assemble my book fairly quickly, since I already had a good many Orioles minor leaguers put aside.  Still, the prep work was tedious, but worth it in the end.

I finally got to graph Grayson Rodriguez, and luckily was able to get him on two cards.  The above 2021 Bowman Chrome purple mojo refractor turned out great, and is numbered 220/250.

Also, Tyler Glasnow has been rehabbing in Durham, and I was able to get this orange foil 2020 Donruss signed.  This card will look really cool in my album, and will be somewhat unique, since I didn't open much 2020 Donruss.  This card came out of one of the former card shop boxes.

I wish I had pulled out two Brujan cards for him to sign, other than letting him choose the two, as I had a 2022 Topps chrome mojo 87 that I would have rather he sign.  I tried getting him on arrival today, but never saw him.  Oh, well.  The 2022 Bowman and 2022 Topps are fine additions to my album anyway.  I finally got my 2021 Mosiac Josh Fleming done.  I had sent one to him TTM, but haven't seen it come back yet.  I also finally got Josh Lowe and Luke Railey done, after missing them several times in Durham.

Today's arrival was really nice; I got Yonny Chirinos on two, with the help of my good friend, Jackson.  Seeing Jackson the last two days after missing him all season was also really great.  I finally got my 2021 Bulls team set card of Reinaldo Ruiz signed after missing him a bunch of times.

I also finally got this 2019 Topps gold Rays card signed by Ralph Garza.  Since he has played at Tropicana, I figured I'd get him to sign it, since I didn't have any other cards of his.

Surprisingly, I was able to finish four of m 2019 Midwest League All Star cards: Chris Vallimont, Logan Gillaspie, Xavier Edwards and Grant Witherspoon.  The Gillaspie had been randomly sitting on my desk for a while, and finally has a home in my album.

Speaking of finally getting cards into my album, here are a few that i have had my eye on getting signed for a little while now.  The 2015 NY-Penn League All Star card of Spenser Watkins brought a comment from him when he saw it.  I also was finally able to finish the dual card of Grayson Rodriguez and Cadyn Grenier from 2018 Bowman.  The 2020 Topps Pro Debut Chrome refractor of Yusniel Diaz is another that I really wanted done, and I was smart enough this time to only show that one to him when he was signing.  That way I knew it would get done.

Also, I got some nice cards signed by Brett Phillips.  Jackson told me ahead of time that Phillips was really nice, and he didn't disappoint.  He really was cool, and talked to us a good bit.

Phillips signed a bunch, and I really appreciated it.  He got a nice assortment of cards done for me, which I appreciated.  I left without any of his cards to put back into my boxes.

I got a lot of Orioles affiliates' team set cards signed, as well as some other stuff.  I upgraded my 2022 Topps signed by Bruce Zimmermann, since the one he signed for me TTM was signed in ballpoint pen.  I also got my 2022 SAL Top Prospects Connor Norby card signed, and had a nice conversation with him about ECU.

Chris Vallimont was really cool.  He was easy to spot; he was wearing a retro Cleveland Browns jersey, as the Browns were playing last night.

Finally, Nick Vespi wouldn't sign outside for arrival, but did tell us that he would sign inside.  I asked him if he would be in the bullpen, since my seats were right there.  He said yes and that he would look for me inside.  He was true to his word, and signed for me right before the National Anthem.

Last night's game was exciting, with the Bulls winning in a walk off.  Their Stranger Things jerseys were really cool, and I may bid on one of them.  I was wearing the one that I won years ago, signed by Brandon Snyder.

In all, I got the following signatures: Cooper Criswell x 1, Yonny Chirinos x 2, Xavier Edwards x 3, Ralph Garza x 1, Angel Perdomo x 3, Reinaldo Ruiz x 2, Vidal Brujan x 2, Josh Fleming x 1, Tyler Glasnow x 1, Josh Lowe x 2, Luke Raley x 2, Grant Witherspoon x 1, Ryan Conroy x 2, Yusniel Diaz x 2, Cam Gallagher x 1, Logan Gillaspie x 1, Morgan McSweeney x 2, Tyler Nevin x 1, Connor Norby x 1, Jacob Nottingham x 1, Brett Phillips x 8, Justin Ramsey x 1, Grayson Rodriguez x 2, Ramon Sambo x 1, Chris Vallimont x 6, Nick Vespi x 3, Spenser Watkins x 1 and Bruce Zimmermann x 4 (58 total autographs)

June 29 and 30, 2021, Graphing of Gwinnett Stripers at Durham Bulls

Because I had taken last week off, and the Wood Ducks were out of town, I decided to take some time and do a little out of town graphing.  I originally wanted to take a trip out of state, but with a lot of teams still restricting access to players, I went the safe route and stuck around Durham and saw the Stripers.

Chris, Ale and I met up with Dugan and Jackson to graph arrival and the games.  We did an awesome job, I think.  The 2020 Topps at the top of the post is a Jason Kipnis card, and it just so happened to have Phil Ervin on the card, as well.  They are both on the Stripers now, and I was able to get both signatures on the card.

We got Kipnis on a bunch of cards; he was super nice, and generally signed 2 per whenever we saw him.  I think Ale got him on 3 one time, but he was mostly 2 per.  I got some really nice cards signed by him, which was great.

Orlando Arcia was pretty tough; he avoided me until I popped the card I wanted (above, left, 2017 Bowman Chrome Rookie of the Year Favorites parallel) out of my book.  The card looks amazing.  Of course, he signed two cards for Ale; I should have handed Ale the two other cards that I really wanted to get done.  Oh well, I was happy with what we were able to get.

I did tell my friend, Gerard, that I was planning on going to this series, so he sent me a few cards for a 50/50; we got Yolmer Sanchez on his birthday, which was cool.  Jesse Biddle was super nice; Jackson had a really good photo of he and Biddle that he got signed.  He even gave a copy to Biddle.

I was really happy to get a few Travis Snider cards out of my boxes, especially the 2010 Topps National Chicle (above; top left).

Most of the players were one per, but a few of them signed multiples.  The one per made it tough to finish guys off, but I was happy with everything we were able to get.  Some of the Kyle Wright cards were really great; I enjoyed the two different Topps Archives Wrights that I got signed.

I felt really bad for Yoan Lopez; a panhandler came up to everyone as he was signing and berated everyone, including Lopez.  The guy was clearly out of his mind, so I had to move the boys away from the spectacle.

Matt Tuiasosopo signed the 4 cards I had, but I had to do two at a time, pre and post game.  After the game, he asked if he had signed for me before and that he wouldn't sign for anyone he signed for earlier in the day.  Before I could respond, he signed the two cards I had left and moved along.

We were able to get Luis Patino on some really nice cards.  I wanted to get him on one of the Bulls team set cards, but I was completely ok with him signing these instead.  I had pulled the 2021 Panini Diamond Kings; the other two came from a recent card show.

I finally got to see Joe Ryan and Shane Baz; the boys got Baz for me after the second game, as I was still on the Stripers side.  Apparently, I had just missed him when I walked over.

We got Vidal Brujan on a bunch of cards, which was great, since I just found out that he is about to be promoted.

We bought Durham Bulls team sets, and worked to get them signed while we were there.  There were already several guys in the set who aren't with the team anymore (Wander Franco).  Still, it was fun to get some signed.

I doubt we will finish the team sets, but it was nice to add the cards to the books and see what we could get done.

In all, Chris, Ale and I got: Victor Arano x 2, Orlando Arcia x 5, Jesse Biddle x 7, Ryan Casteel x 1, Johan Camargo x 4, Phil Ervin x 6, Nolan Kingham x 3, Jason Kipnis x 19, Travis Snider x 7, Yoan Lopez x 3, Tanner Roark x 3, Yolmer Sanchez x 7, Touki Toussaint x 3, Bryse Wilson x 6, Ryan Sherriff x 1, Ryan Goins x 4, Kyle Wright x 9, Jasseel De La Cruz x 2, Matt Tuiasosopo x 4, Shane Baz x 4, Adam Conley x 4, Vidal Brujan x 20, Wool E Bull x 3, Mike Ford x 2, Louis Head x 2, David Hess x 8, Dietrich Enns x 3, Tristan Gray x 3, Rick Knapp x 4, Nathan Lukes x 2, Brent Honeywell x 2, Chris Ellis x 2, Sean Poppen x 2, Josh Lowe x 11, Kevin Padlo x 9, Joe Ryan x 10, Brett Sullivan x 3, Kyle WIlson x 4, Brady Williams x 4, Luis Patino x 6, Drew Strotman x 6 or 210 autos total.

Great Time Graphing The Tides At Bulls

With the Wood Ducks out of town this week and the countdown to Wander Day fast approaching (we all know Wander Franco will be called up soon), I decided to make a trip to Durham and try to graph the Bulls this weekend.  I also used it as an opportunity to break my friend, Tyler, in to IP graphing.  He had never done it before, but has shown interest, so I helped him pick out an autograph book and got him started on his way.  What better way to get him started, than to try to pursue the #1 prospect in baseball, Wander Franco.

Tyler, Chris and I were met in Durham by my awesome friends, Jackson and Dugan.  Dugan had this Franco Midwest League all star card that he got signed for me last week, so I figured, even if we didn't get Franco, I could leave there with a Franco auto.

Obviously, we ended up getting Franco.  I was able to get him inside the stadium as he was about to warm up; he had bypassed us outside upon arrival saying he had a meeting.  Jackson convinced me to get my card signed with the copper Sharpie that I brought, and it really looks great on the gold card.  It is numbered to 50, so that was pretty cool, too.

Chris had the above triple card in his book, and got Kevin Padlo and Vidal Brujan on arrival.  We were afraid we would leave without Wander on that card, but a guy we had helped outside (he was new to graphing and didn't even have a pen with him to get his ball signed; so I let him borrow mine) was from the Dominican and took my card (and book) and ran Wander down to get his signed after Wander bypassed Chris again.  The guy saw me with the card and asked why Wander didn't sign, I said "I got him inside, it's cool." and he said no, took my book and ran after him talking to him in Spanish.  Turns out, they had talked about being from the Dominican, and Wander stopped and chatted with the guy again.  He turned out to be a super nice guy, and told us stories about baseball in his country as we waited for other players to come out.  I ended up letting him keep my pen.  It was the least I could do.

We got Vidal Brujan on quite a few cards.  I think he is going to be a really good player as well.  He's super fast and probably won't take long to get called up.

We didn't miss too many of the Durham players, which was great.  I was up til 2AM Saturday searching and prepping cards and graphing books.  I was able to get a bunch of cards out and prepped, so I was really glad with the results.

I even got a Wool E Bull card signed while at the game, which was pretty cool.  Apparently, folks go wild over some of these mascot cards, but this one will stay in my album.  I got a couple Drew Strotman cards from Jackson, which helped me out.  I wasn't able to find any of him for some reason.  Brent Honeywell was one per, but the cards he signed turned out great.  Jackson and Dugan hadn't been able to get Luis Patino all week, but luckily, we got him on Saturday; he has an awesome signature.

The Joe Odom card came from Dugan, which was nice.  I wouldn't have had anything of him.  Ryan Boldt was one of the tougher guys for me to get (aside from Wander) because no one could recognize him.  We got my one card done, though.

I got David Hess inside after the game, and spoke to him a bit.  He was super nice, and the cards turned out great.  Deivy Grullon was the first guy to stop for us outside, and I was so happy to get the 2020 Panini Score Select signed, since I had to search boxes while watching Cobra Kai Friday night.  Those cards turned out great.

We were able to get a few Norfolk guys on arrival after we got the Bulls that we needed.  Several of the Tides players signed for us, even after a trainer came out of the clubhouse and told us the players couldn't sign due to COVID.  Thomas Eschelman was the only player who refused us due to these restrictions.

I was really excited to get Yusniel Diaz at the game, because I hadn't seen him before.  I recognized him, which was a surprise, and he signed one card for each of us.

Jackson and Dugan had dipped into my stash of extras when we learned that it was, in fact, Diaz, and they helped me out with the extras.

On a whim, I added this 2019 Allen & Ginter gold of Vincent Stio to my snap case and brought it with me.  I knew he lived in NC and went to a lot of games in the area, but was primarily as fixture at Mudcats games.  He's an aspiring umpire, and will dress as one and attend minor league games across the state.  He mimics the umpires movements and has been brought onto the field several times.  I found this card in one of my card shop boxes and knew I'd run into him somewhere.  This was an awesome example of being super prepared.  Chris and I were getting into the line for the all you can eat buffet, and Chris noticed Vincent.  So, I was able to graph a kid younger than my son as a minor league game.  At least he and his dad were cool about it.

My good eye also spotted Ryan Ripken as he was entering the Tides clubhouse, and I had a short conversation with him.  It was regarding a card that I had brought with me that has become a small project of mine.  I plan to finish the card off with a couple of Ryan's relatives, but he signed it for me and enjoyed seeing it.  He is such a great guy, and I was glad to see him again.

So, we had an awesome time at the game and enjoyed the company of my son and friends.  In all we got 65 autographs:

Wander Franco x 2, Vidal Brujan x 13, Kevin Padlo x 3, Ryan Boldt x 1, Adam Conley x 3, Chris Ellis x 5, Deivy Grullon x 6, David Hess x 4, Joseph Odom x 1, Wool E Bull x 1, Josh Lowe x 3, Brent Honeywell x 3, Wyatt Mathisen x 2, Luis Patino x 4, Drew Strotman x 2, Vincent Stio x 1, Brett Cumberland x 1, Yusniel DIaz x 5, Zac Lowher x 2, Ryan Ripken x 1 and Willy Yahn x 2.