September 2022 Graphing Recap of Braves at Crawdads

The game was called probably some 30 minutes after the Rome Braves team buses left the ballpark, but that didn't stop me from a full night of graphing in Hickory.  I made my way out of the stadium while the Braves players waited for the buses to come, and got everyone I needed with the exception of Grant Holmes.

After the game was called, the Crawdads went forward with their team signing, and luckily, the rain had stopped.  I was able to almost complete this year's early season Crawdads team set.  I think I am missing one or two guys from the set.  I didn't pick up the late season version, since my friend, Dugan had bought one for me, but forgot to bring it down the last time he was in town.  I also forgot to tell him I was going to Hickory this weekend, so oh well.

The main reason I was going was to try to complete this year's Wood Ducks team set, which I was able to do, save for the alternate mascot.  I'll get him next season.  I was glad to see the guys again, one more time before the season ended.

I was able to get several Jacob Pearson 2017 Bowmans and a couple 2018 Pro Debuts out of my card box.  He signed one of each of the cards, so the rest of the unsigned cards will go into the box of shame.  Still, I was happy to get these taken care of.

I only had one 2021 Bowman Draft of Cal Conley, so it is out of the box and into the album.  He was really nice; we had gotten the Braves guys outside as they were boarding the buses, then we went back inside and waited for the Crawdads signing.

Finally, Beau Philip was one per.  He signed a 2020 Topps Pro Debut for both Chris and I.  I had hoped he would hit one of the 2019 Bowman Draft cards as well, but I'm just happy I got one.

In all, I got the following autographs: Dane Acker x 8, Robby Ahlstrom x 6, Angel Aponte x 2, Michael Brewer x 4, Evan Carter x 3, Derrick Decker x 2, Andy Earp x 2, Cristian Inoa x 1, Jesus Linarez x 2, Larson Kendreich x 4, Theo McDowell x 4, Alejandro Osuna x 4, TK Roby x 4, Chris Siese x 8, Josh Stephan x 4, Jay Sullenger x 2, Leury Tejadax4, Ryan Tuntland x 2, Bradford Webb x 4, Cal Conley x 1, Jacob Pearson x 6 and Beau Philip x 2 (79 total autographs).

TTM Success - Matt McCann

Here is a 2018 Topps Pro Debut that I was able to get signed TTM by Matt McCann.  His signature it pretty nice, as opposed to some that I've seen of younger guys.

McCann (b. 1995) was a 25th round pick in the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.  He played in the Angels system in 2017, reaching high A ball.  He had 44 hits, 1 home run and a .246 batting average.

I mailed to McCann on March 8 and got the card back on March 25 for a 17-day TAT.

TTM Success - Stuart Fairchild

Some really nice prospect cards came back signed TTM from Stuart Fairchild.  This 2017 Bowman Chrome sky blue refractor turned out great.  It is numbered 62/399.

I also got a 2017 Bowman, 2018 Heritage Minors and a 2018 Pro Debut signed.  All of them look great.

Fairchild (b. 1996) was a 2nd round pick in the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of Wake Forest University.  He has played in the minors in the Reds and Diamondbacks systems since 2017.  He has reached AAA.  He has 298 hits, 25 home runs and a .271 batting average.

I mailed to Fairchild on October 15 and got the cards back on February 24, for a 132-day TAT.

TTM Success - Taylor Walls

When I can get a 2013 Perfect Game card signed, I get pretty happy.  I bought a couple boxes of 2013 Perfect Game at the National a few years ago, and still have a bunch of base cards left over.  I have been able to get a few of them signed, and when I saw that Taylor Walls was signing TTM, I sent this one, and a few other cards out to him.  He doesn't have much of a signature, but hey, they're signed.

I also got a 2019 Stars & Stripes, 2020 Stars & Stripes, 2017 Bowman and 2018 Pro Debut signed by Walls.

Walls (b. 1996) made his major league debut this season for the Rays.  He was a 3rd round pick by the Rays out of Florida State in the 2017 June Amateur Draft.  So far, he has 16 hits, 1 home run and a .246 batting average.

I mailed to Walls on January 2 and got the cards back on February 19, for a 48-day TAT.

TTM Success - Joey Morgan

I got some recent prospect cards signed with this TTM success from Joey Morgan.  He signed a 2018 Topps Pro Debut, a 2017 Bowman Chrome and 2017 Bowman (both below).

Morgan (b. 1996) was a 3rd round pick by the Tigers in the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Washington.  He has reached as high as AAA and so far has 116 hits, 6 home runs and a .211 batting average across 3 seasons in the minors.

I mailed to Morgan on September 2 and got the cards back on September 24, for a 22-day TAT.

A Long Awaited Trade With Sam

What can I say about Sam?  I've known him for a long time.  A very long time, really.  I finally got to meet him in person back in 2018 when Chris and I went to Texas, and that was a really nice time.  We used to talk every day, now I may hear from him once a year.  Maybe.  It's a common thing, really.  You become friends with someone, get pretty close, then start drifting apart, until you finally realize that you hardly talk at all.  Or you get a text message from them, and realize their number isn't even in your phone anymore.

I liked Sam so much, I took all of the photos he had sent me over time that had him with baseball players, and I made him a shutterfly book that he could share, and maybe get signed by said players.  It took a lot of work, but I felt like it would be a nice thing to do.  I hope he liked it.

I got a message out of the blue from Sam a few months ago, asking me if I would trade him an extra DL Hall autograph that I had gotten IP for some cards that Sam had gotten himself over the years.  I wasn't sure what all he would send, but it made for a nice "blind trade".  Those can be fun, really.

I thought I would maybe get one auto back, but Sam, in fact, sent 4.  None of which I had, which was even better!  The above Mike Nikorak 2015 Bowman refractor is especially nice, since I missed out on him when I saw Asheville a couple years ago (it's ok, I got Riley Pint on EVERYTHING I had).

Sam also included these three cards.  I had sent to DJ Peters TTM, but it got returned to sender, so that helps.  I also was glad to get a Sean Murphy auto back, since I tried to 50/50 on him, but the person missed him.  I sent TTM to Logan Allen, and those cards are out somewhere, hopefully coming back sometime.

So, it was nice to hear from Sam, finally.  I don't hold out any expectation that more trades are in our future, but I do wish him the best.  I hope his knee heals, and he can continue to pitch in college and realize his dream.  He has all of these players he met who he holds in high regard, and I know he aspires to achieve success like they have.

Thanks for the deal, Sam.  Hope to hear from you soon.

A Little Graphing Done By Andrew L

I got a message on Instagram earlier in the year from a guy named Andrew, who does some 50/50s with me during the minor league season.  I can't remember where he was going (I think he went to Spring Training) and got me a few cards signed.  This was really nice, it turns out, because I wasn't able to do hardly any 50/50s due to the pandemic.  So, Andrew got me a few cards signed by Alex McKenna.  I had pulled McKenna's cards, since I thought he might have ended up at Fayetteville this year, so his stuff was easy to find.

I had pulled Zach Kirtley because I was going to try him at Spring Training, so his stuff was all in one spot, as well.  I was glad to get a 2017 Bowman out of my box, as getting those signed has slowed down big time, since the cards are getting older now.

Finally, Andrew got me a few Korry Howell cards done.  Again, these were all in one place, because I had them pulled for the upcoming Mudcats season.

I'll have to do some major reorganizing of my boxes before next season (if there is one), because a lot of things will be changing on the minor league landscape.  Hopefully, graphing won't change all that much, but that remains to be seen.

TTM Success - Tyler Stephenson

I added a few autographs of Reds prospect, Tyler Stephenson with this TTM success that I got back recently.

I was able to get a few cards out of my Bowman box, and get them signed.  They all turned out well.

Stephenson (b. 1996) was a first round pick (11th overall) by the Reds in the 2015 June Amateur Draft.  So far, he has reached AA, and has 355 hits, 28 home runs and a .263 batting average.

I mailed to Stephenson on January 2 and got the cards back on January 11, for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bryan Reynolds

I meant to post this TTM success from Bryan Reynolds yesterday, but I was very busy, so it got pushed back to today.

I was able to get a few cards out of my prospects box and have them signed, and they really turned out well.

Reynolds signed everything with a thin blue Sharpie, and the cards look great.

Reynolds (b. 1995) was a second round pick in the 2016 June Amateur Draft by the Giants.  He made his major league debut this past april and played 134 games for the Pirates.  He finished 4th in the NL MVP voting after collecting 154 hits, 16 home runs and a .314 batting average.

I mailed to Reynolds on November 25 and got the cards back on December 14, for a 19-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jeren Kendall

I had sent a bunch of cards out for 50/50s this past season, but there were several guys I had pulled that folks just weren't able to get to sign for me.  So, I went through the cards and tried to see if I could send a few of the cards out for TTMs, as opposed to putting the cards back in my box.  I was able to get a couple of them back, Jeren Kendall being one of them.

Kendall's signature isn't much, but the cards are signed.  They'll still go in my album, and not have to go back in my box.

Kendall (b. 1996) was a 1st round pick (23rd overall) by the Dodgers in the 2017 June Amateur Draft.  He played college ball at Vanderbilt.  He has played 3 seasons of Minor League ball, advancing as high as High A (Rancho Cucamonga).  SO far, he has 212 hits, 34 home runs and a .223 batting average.

I mailed to Kendall on September 26 and got the cards back on November 12, for a 47-day TAT.

TTM Success - Taylor Trammell

I was told by my friend, Kaleb, that Taylor Trammell was signing TTM, so I dropped a couple cards in the mail to see if I could score his auto.  He signed for me, and inscribed each card.  The autos look really cool.

Trammell (b. 1997) was a first round pick (35th overall) by the Reds in the 2016 June Amateur Draft out of high school.  He has made his way to Chattanooga, the Reds AA team.  So far, he has 327 hits, 25 home runs and a .287 batting average across 4 minor league campaigns.

I mailed to Trammell on February 27 via Reds Spring Training and got the cards back on March 14, for a 15-day TAT.

I Made A Friend, And He Hooked Me Up With Some Autos

I never did get to Buies Creek this season for a game.  I really wanted to, but never got the chance.  Instead, I went elsewhere and got autos.  During the season, however, I made friends with a few of the graphers who come regularly to Wood Ducks games.  One of them, Ben, also came to the Mudcats while we were there.  The more and more we chatted at games, the more and more we enjoyed ourselves.  At the end of the season, while I was in Kinston catching the Wood Ducks against the Dash, Ben went to Buies Creek.  He was more than willing to take a few cards for me, and hooked me up with a few autos.

Unfortunately, the game ended early due to rain, so Ben's graphing was limited, but he was able to get me the above cards.  He missed out on JB Bukauskas, since he had been promoted a few days prior.  Still, I was happy with the cards that Ben got done for me.

Thanks so much, Ben!  I can't wait to graph the Wood Ducks with you next season!

July 26, 2018 - Hillcats at Wood Ducks

With all of my National posts, I fell behind on my graphing posts.  So, here are some cards I got signed when the Lynchburg Hillcats came to town right before I left for the National.  I got a bunch of 50/50s done, and a few for myself.

The above Stars and Stripes Justni Garza was part of a 50/50 for Gerard.  I didn't have any of these, so it was nice to add one to the album.

I was really happy to get a few of these 2013 Perfect Game Micah Miniard cards signed.  Chris ended up with one, since I had several.

I was able to get a few 2017 Bowman Ernie Clement signed.  He was super nice, and ended up going on the DL right after I left for the show.  He has since been promoted to Akron, after playing only 33 games in the Carolina League.

Finally, I got a few cards signed by Leody Taveras.  He has been tough this year because he only signs one card per person.  So many people have asked me if I can take 50/50s of him, I finally had to start refusing stuff.