April 2023 Graphing of Wood Ducks Opening Week

Finally, the Wood Ducks are back in action, and I did a little bit of graphing last week.  Beginning with the Wood Ducks exhibition game against Mount Olive College, followed by the open practice/meet the team event for season ticket holders, and culminating with a shortened series against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, I got a decent amount of stuff signed.

The exhibition game was tough, since rosters weren't posted yet.  I still got some stuff signed.  The meet the team event was equally as difficult, since they didn't post the players names where they were sitting.  So, there was a lot of "What's your name?" going on.  I was able to get these four Carlos Maldonado cards signed that I had been holding onto since the 2018 season.  I had missed him on that team set, since he was sent to coach in Arizona (I think) halfway through the season.

I had held these Jeferson Espinal cards in my snap case for the bulk of last season, once I had heard that the Rangers had traded for him.  He never came last year, so I was glad to finally see him on the roster this year.

Some of the guys who have cards now were late-season call ups last year; while a couple who have Perfect Game cards (like Luis Ramirez) are new to the team.  I was able to knock out all of my Bowman stuff by the end of the meet the team event.  I have since moved on to some Ebay pickups and some 50/50s.

Some of the Ebay pickups have been 2022 Bowman Inception cards like the two above Yeison Morrobels.  The cards look awesome, and I have some en route for Danyer Cueva and Anthony Gutierrez.

I also got some of the true returning guys woh got new cards after the season, like Ian Moller and Cam Cauley.  The new Pro Debuts and Heritage Minors cards look great when signed, and I have already finished off what I pulled for the Woodies.

Finally, there weren't ,any guys on Kannapolis that I had cards of, so I was pretty much done with them after the first game.  Peyton Pallette commended on the 2022 Panini Prizm Draft card that I had pulled.  He was really nice, and asked me how I was doing the next time he saw me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Cam Cauley x 5, Danyer Cueva x 8, Yeison Morrobel x 8, Luis Ramirez x 4, Peyton Pallette x 2, Jordan Sprinkle x 9, Jeferson Espinal x 6, Carlos Maldonaldo x 5, Ian Moller x 5, Anthony Gutierrez x 4 and we also got a ball signed by the entire team, Anthony Gutierrez x 3 (54 total autographs on cards; I'm not counting the ball).

TTM Success - Bob Heffner

Another 1964 Topps came back signed TTM, this one from Bob Heffner.  The card turned out nicely, with Heffner taking up minimal space on the corner of the photo.

Heffner (b. 1938) played in the majors from 1963 to 1966 and 1968 for the Red Sox, Indians and Angels.  He had a record of 11-21 with 241 strike outs and a 4.51 ERA.

I mailed to Heffner on January 23 and got the card back on January 30, for a 7-day TAT.

Spring Training Returns From Carson W

My friend, Carson, made his first attempts at Spring Training graphing this year.  He hit the Rays and Tigers camps, and did pretty well.  The highlight of what he got done for me was this Topps Chrome Turkey Red insert of Tyler Glasnow.  I really appreciated Carson including it in the return package, since I tried to get it signed last year and missed.

Carson got a bunch of Rays stuff out of the prospects boxes and also the box of shame. I had missed Tyler Zombro (for good reason; he had been out after being hit in the face by a batted ball).  I never saw Greg Jones, who Carson got some cards signed by.  He also helped me with Carson Williams who was one per then didnt sign the rest of the time Charleston was here last year. 

Carson hooked me up with the above Shane McClanahan relic and the Cooper Kinney 2022 Pro Debut.

Finally, Carson got a Curtis Mead done for me, as well as two Colt Keith cards from Tigers camp.

Thanks for taking these, Carson. I owe you some Wood Ducks autos soon.

Another TTM Success From Ty Cline

When I got the vintage boxes from Conrad and went through them, I found these two rough cards of Ty Cline.  I liked the 1971 Topps NL Playoff highlights, so I figured I'd go ahead and send them off TTM.

This 1964 Topps would be a filler card in a set and would be replaced, so I figured I'd get it signed and give it a home in my album.  Despite its rough condition, it still looks nice.

I mailed to Cline on January 23 and got the cards back on January 30, for a 7-day TAT. I paid his fee of $5/card.  He also included a signed post card.

Spring Training Returns From Drake

My friend, Drake, may appreciate how I have my autograph albums set up almost as much as I do.  I enjoy the variety of each page and how so many different cards from different sets populate the albums.  Drake has helped me get cards signed for a few years now, and he really came through during this year's Spring Training.

He even mentioned to Maikol Escotto (above) how the card he was signing would end up as the cover photo of a future blog post (even though I don't blog by request).  I honored Drake's wishes and put this card first as part of a deal we made while he was assembling the return package.

Drake helped me clear a lot of room in my prospects boxes by taking the cards he took for Spring Training.  He also helped get a bunch of cards out of the box of shame, which clears room for some missed opportunities from this season.

I was really happy to add the 2022 Panini Capstone Pablo Lopez (top right) to the album.  Those cards look really nice, and look even better signed.

I was really happy with the 2022 Topps Cosmic Chrome Griffin Jax that Drake got done for me.  That was a cool box that I ordered off of Topps.com, and this is the first from that set that I have been able to get signed.

Drake got Joey Gallo to sign (top left), but Gallo switched markers on him.  I don't care, though, he gets added to the album anyway.  The 2014 Bowman Byron Buxton turned out nicely, as well.

Several Bowman Draft highlight this page, as well as a 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Chance Sisco.  I missed Sisco a few times, but was finally able to get this card out of my boxes.

Drake added a couple extras of his own, like the 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Brock Deatherage blue parallel and the 2014 Leaf Perfect Game Andrew Cabezas.  He also tossed in the 2022 Panini Prizm Curtis Terry, which was nice, since Terry is a former Wood Duck.

There is a 2001 Topps Rocco Baldelli that Drake got done for me, as well as a 2020 Topps Big League orange parallel of Chance Sisco that I really wanted to get signed.  Drake read my mind, and got that one taken care of for me.  He also provided me with several project cards with multiple players to try to get signed.  Thanks buddy!

I was surprised to see this 2021 Topps Heritage Minors Austin Martin stickers insert get signed.  I'm sure it was tough to add it to his page, but it is cool to add one of these to my album.  Martin was tough last season when I went to Wichita, so for Drake to get two cards done for me out of my box of shame, I was really happy.

Finally, Drake added this 1989 Donruss signed by David Cone that Drake traded for.  He had a friend get Cone at Royals opening day (I think), and it is something really awesome to add to the album.

Thank you for all of your hard work, Drake!

TTM Success - Sean Ochinko

There was an Ebay purchase a while back that came with four Sean Ochinko 2011 Bowman Chrome cards as fillers.  I held onto the cards for a while before I found an address for Ochinko and mailed the cards off.  They came back RTS, so I waited a while and tried again.  This time around, I found the correct address and got two cards back signed.

Ochinko (b. 1987) was an 11th round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of Louisiana State University.  He played in the Blue Jays system from 2009 to 2015, reaching AAA.  He had 541 hits, 49 home runs and a .273 batting average.

I mailed to Ochinko on January 21 and got the cards back signed on January 30, for a 9-day TAT.

50-50 Return From Matthew F

A 50/50 partner going on a couple years now, Matthew F had recently sent back some cards that he got signed for me from te 2023 Reds Caravan.  He hooked it up and got me a bunch of stuff taken care of.  The above Willie McGee 1995 Stadium Club Ring Leaders card is really awesome.  I had another one signed by Paul O'Neill a while back, and these look really cool in the album.

I had missed Brandon Williamson last season when I went on my trip, so getting this 2020 Pro Debut out of the box of shame was great.  It made a little bit of room for more stuff that I've missed recently.  The 2022 Pro Debut Jay Allen also turned out well.

Matt knocked out a bunch of guys that I wouldn't normally see, so it was nice to get these cards back and not have to put them in the box of shame.  I realized that I have a lot of signed cards from 2021 Topps Heritage Minors.  That 1972 design stands out, and I really enjoy whittling that stack down as the signing opportunities come up.

I was happy to get the 2019 Bowman Draft card of Bryant Packard back signed.  He played at ECU, so it was cool to finally get that card done.

Here are some more Reds prospects that Matthew got done for me.  A 2021 Heritage Minors Tyler Callihan continues to add to that list.  I was also happy to get the Connor Phillips out of the box of shame, as well.  I missed him when I saw Chattanooga last season.

Thank you so much for taking the cards, Matt.  I know we will match up again on some more 50/50s this season.