June-July 2022 Graphing of Cannonballers at Wood Ducks

To say I wasn't feeling this series between the Cannonballers and Wood Ducks would be an understatement. It started out with James Beard telling me that he had signed for me last time he was in Kinston, so he wouldn't be signing for me again (and completely ignoring Chris; Chris did get him on one card the last game we saw on Friday) to most of the pitchers I needed to get taking the long way around the ballpark to get to the bullpen (and skipping where all of us graphers were. All 3 or 4 of us). Add in the fact that I was thrashing to get ready for my vacation; I sincerely couldn't wait to get out of town.  Oh, and Colson Montgomery got moved up to Winston-Salem, after I had bought a few of his cards to try to get signed.

All of that being said, I did get some cards signed, but I'll be sending back a lot more unsigned cards than normal. I'm going to have to start limiting folks on what they send me, because it is getting tougher and tougher to get the 50/50s I had taken completed. I'm not complaining, because I'm happy just getting one autograph but the completionist in me doesn't like to leave an unsigned card behind.

So, I did get a decent amount done, and I was very happy to get Norge Vera on some cards. He has one of the most unique signatures that I've seen. It looks like he drew a math formula on the card. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Misael Gonzalez x 2, James Beard x 1, Wilber Sanchez x 2, Norge Vera x 10, John Ely x 2, Juan Mejia x 2, Maximo Acosta x 1, Ryan Garcia x 6, Benyamin Bailey x 6, Adisyn Coffey x 6, Wes Kath x 1, Jared Kelley x 8, Guillermo Quiroz x 7 and Norge Vera x 4 (54 total autographs).

TTM Success - Brian Ruggiano

The last TTM success that I had scanned before I left for vacation was this one from Brian Ruggiano.  I really liked these 2010 Pro Debuts, since they had the old Ogden Raptors logo.  I sent two cards, with the intention of trading the duplicate, but he signed them in different colors, so I guess I'm going to keep both in my album.

Ruggiano (b. 1986) was a 23rd round pick by the Dodgers in the 2008 June Amateur Draft out of Texas A & M.  He played in the minors from 2008 to 2010 in the Dodgers system, reaching A ball.  He had 224 hits, 17 home runs and a .281 batting average.

I mailed to Ruggiano on February 3 and got the cards back on April 29, for an 85-day TAT.

TTM Success - R. A. Dickey

This TTM success came from a pretty big name, former Cy Young Award winner, R. A. Dickey. I had tried him before, but never got my stuff back. I had see folks get him recently, so I trier again and was successful the second time around.

I was able to get a 2013 Topps and a 2011 Topps signed, and both turned out great.

Dickey (b. 1974) played in the majors in 2001, from 2003 to 2006 and 2008 to 2017 for the Rangers, Mariners, Twins, Mets, Blue Jays and Braves. He had a record of 120-118 with 1,477 strike outs and a 4.04 ERA. He won 20 games in 2012, the season in which he won the NL Cy Young Award. He was an All Star in 2012, as well. His best finish in the MVP race was also that season, when he finished 14th. He won a Gold Glove Award in 2013.

I mailed to Dickey on March 8 and got the cards back on April 27, for a 49-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chris Britton

Here is a TTM success from a former Oriole that took me a couple times to get right. I finally was able to get a couple cards back signed from Chris Britton. I think this was the third attempt at getting him and the wait finally paid off.

I was able to get Britton's signature on a 2006 Topps Rookie 52, a 2007 Upper Deck and a 2006 Upper Deck.

Britton (b. 1982) played in the majors from 2006 to 2008 for the Orioles and Yankees. He had a record of 0-3 with 58 strike outs and a 3.83 ERA.

I mailed to Britton on January 21 and got the cards back on April 25, for a 94-day TAT. Britton is not related to former Orioles closer, Zach Britton.

TTM Success - Sam Militello

This TTM success from Sam Militello is highlighted by the awesome Carolina League all star card that I happened to find in one of the boxes from my former LCS. I was really happy to get this signed; I am also disappointed that there still is no Carolina League All Star game this season. I doubt they'll reinstate one; they haven't even put out a Carolina League top prospects set like other leagues have done. MLB taking over the minors still has me irritated.

Anyway, I had quite a few cards for Militello and I was able to send them off. They all turned out nicely.

Militello (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1992 to 1993 for the Yankees. He had a record of 4-4 with 47 strike outs and a 3.89 ERA. I mailed to Militello on March 28 and got the cards back on April 23, for a 26-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Chris Gissell

My box with late 90s Bowman has yielded quite a few cards to get signed TTM and I was able to get a few Chris Gissell cards signed recently. The above 1997 Bowman turned out nicely. 

Here are some 1998 and 1999 Bowmans and parallels that I got signed by Gissell. The inserts didn't scan too well, but the cards are fine in person.

Gissell (b. 1978) played in the majors in 2004 for the Rockies. He had a record of 0-1 with 11 strike outs and a 14.54 ERA.

I mailed to Gissell on April 2 and got the cards back on April 22, for a 20-day TAT.

TTM Success - Brett Gerritse

Here are a couple 2013 Bowmans that I got signed TTM from Brett Gerritse. The above card is the 2013 Bowman hometown parallel. These are pretty cool cards that Topps hasn't done in a while. I figure they'll do them again at some point.

Gerritse (b. 1991) was a 12th round pick by the Yankees in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of a California high school. He played in the minors from 2009 to 2014, all in the Yankees system. He reached AAA before he retired. He had a record of 24-23 with 316 strike outs and a 3.58 ERA.

I mailed to Gerritse on April 2 and got the cards back on April 22, for a 22-day TAT.