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.

TTM Success - Doug Deeds

More 2007 Bowmans were removed from my prospects box when I got these two back TTM from Doug Deeds.  He signed the 2007 Bowman Chrome with a silver Sharpie.  It is a bit tough to see the auto, but the card is still pretty cool.

The 2007 Bowman base came out much better, I think.

Deeds (b. 1981) was a 9th round draft pick by the Twins in the 2002 June Amateur Draft out of Ohio State.  He played in the minors from 2002 to 2012 in the Twins, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Angels systems.  He got as high as AAA, but didn't make the majors.  He had 1,056 hits, 97 home runs and a .293 batting average.

I mailed to Deeds on January 15 and got the cards back on February 26, for a 42-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jon Nelson

This 2003 Bowman Chrome refractor of Jon Nelson was found in one of the many boxes I got when my LCS closed.  It is a nice card, so I figured I would see if Nelson signed TTM.  He does, so I sent it off.  The card came back signed not too long after, and looks a lot like his faux auto shown at the bottom of the card.  It can be funny sometimes to see how their autographs change over time.

Nelson (b. 1980) was a 26th round pick by the Mariners in the 2001 June Amateur Draft out of Dixie State University in Utah.  He played in the Mariners system from 2002 to 2008, reaching AAA.  THen, he played in independent ball from 2009 to 2011.

In his 7 seasons in minor league ball, Nelson had 712 hits, 101 home runs and a .263 batting average.  I mailed to Nelson on January 22 and got the card back on February 26, for a 35-day TAT.

June 27, 2021 Graphing of Drive at Grasshoppers

Last Sunday, I took my son, Chris, and my little cousin, Ale, to Greensboro to see the Greensboro Grasshoppers take on the Greenville Drive.  I also was going in hopes to finish what I started on Greenville while Ale and I were in Winston-Salem before he and I were shut down.

We did really well graphing inside and outside the stadium, EXCEPT I missed Jay Groome again.  He didn't sign outside, and I was left with my ton of Groome cards, still.  Thakfully, I had given the two best cards to my friend, Dugan, and he got those done.  The above 2017 Bowman Chrome blue shimmer was one of them.  It turned out great.

The other card was the 2017 Bowman Tek (top left).  I had been holding on to those cards since 2017, so I was happy to get them signed.  We were able to get everyone else that we set out to get, which was nice.

I was really glad to finish off most of my Greenville stuff.  I had it pulled, and had I not finished most of it, there would have been a bunch of stuff going back into my boxes.  

The Elih Marrero 2015 Stars and Stripes was found in a box after the trip to Winston, though.  Thankfully, I pulled it when I saw it and put it in my Greenville pile.  I need t do a better job of pulling stuff when I see it, instead of telling myself "Oh, I'll grab that out of the box the next time around.

On the Greensboro side of things, I had pulled some stuff with the thought that I would hit that team at some point this season, so getting stuff together for this series was a lot easier than it normally would have been.  Plus, Dugan was going by there, as well, so I had a couple guys pulled for him as well.

Nick Gonzales hit a homer while we were watching the game.  He signed one per, and only signed after the game.  When he did sign, however, he was really nice.

Dugan had gotten me a Liover Peguero autograph when he got my Groomes signed for me, so I included it here, as well.  I got my own Peguero (the 2020 Heritage Minors), as well.

All of the Greensboro guys were nice.  I see now that I included Drive pitching coach, Bob Kipper, among the Greensboro guys.  I guess that was because he was in a Pirates uniform on this 1989 Score (bottom left).

We all had a really good time at the Greensboro game.  Ale did a great job getting autographs, even though he hadn't done it prior to our trip to the Dash game weeks before.  He even told me he enjoyed graphing, which was nice to hear.  Hopefully, he keeps up with the cards I gave him when the trip was over.

Some Signed Jack McDowells From Dugan

I met up with my buddy, Dugan, while on my way to Winston last week and picked up some cards that he had gotten signed for me by Burlington Sock Puppets manager, Jack McDowell. Yes, the former Burlington Royals are now the Sock Puppets.

Burlington is part of the new collegiate wood bat league set up by MLB when they changed the minors around.  Dugan has been to a couple Buington games now and seems to have enjoyed himself.  I do want a Sock Puppets hat...

Dugan got me a bunch of McDowell cards signed.  I had gotten him TTM and also as a free signer at the National.  I think I'm pretty much out of McDowell cards now. 

Thanks so much for getting these signed for me, Dugan!

June 22-27 Graphing of Mudcats at Wood Ducks

The Mudcats returned to Kinston to face the Wood Ducks last week and I got some more cards signed as a result.  The above Panini Prizm of Freddy Zamora is a Tiger Stripe parallel and turned out great.

I also got a Prizm of Joey Weimer done as part of a 50/50 for someone. The above Stars and Stripes of Noah Campbell also was for a 50/50. Everything else I got signed was for other folks or duplicates that I'd trade later on. 

I had some help during the series and ended up with 122 autos. I didn't go to all of the games; I took a couple nights off and also went to Greensboro for a game.

A Signed Wander From Dylan

A guy named Dylan from Instagram asked me if I could send him a couple Wander Francos to see if he could get a few signed at Durham.  I was surprised that he was successful and that he sent me one back.  This 2020 Topps Pro Debut came back with one of Wander's many signature variations.  I'm happy with it, and appreciate Dylan knocking one out for me.

Franco (b. 2001) got his call up to the majors a few weeks ago and currently is batting .194 with 1 homer and 6 hits.  The consensus #1 prospect in baseball is struggling at the moment, but I believe he will be just fine.

Thanks for the auto, Dylan!