A Couple IP Autos From Jordan

Finally, I was able to get this 2022 Topps Heritage Minors blue parallel of Erick Pena signed.  It got done when my good friend, Jordan, took it to the Mudcats to get signed when Columbia was in town.  I was so disappointed in myself that I put it in a tote instead of my normal minors card boxes.  I tried to get our mutual friend, Mike, to get it signed last season once I realized I had the card, but by then, Pena was in the IL.  Jordan told me he was going to see Columbia and after I told him about the card, he offered to get it done.

Jordan got a Yhoswar Garcia 2022 Topps Heritage Minors signed for me, but I put it with this week's graphs from the Mudcats series.  

Jordan also gave me this 2022 Topps Heritage Minors Miguel Bleis that he got signed.  Bleis was hurt most of last season, so I wasn't able to get him at all.

Thanks so much for getting these cards to me, Jordan.  I appreciate it!

May-June 2023 Graphing of Fireflies at Wood Ducks

Scanning all of these cards has been an arduous task, but I finally got it done after my scanner had to be rebooted.  Anyway, I was able to get a lot more Columbia stuff signed this week, after getting a taste last week.

Several 2023 Bowman Chrome parallels that I had ordered finally came in, so I was able to get some cool stuff signed this week, like the above Andres Mesa pearl parallel.  It had a small scratch on the surface, so I guess the seller opted to not have it graded.  That's ok with me, since I wanted to get one signed and into my album.  The card looks amazing.

I also was able to get the base chrome, as well as an aqua Lunar Crater parallel and a green grass parallel signed.  They all look really cool.

Tommy Specht was finally brought up from Arizona, and I got my Perfect Game and Panini Prizm cards taken care of.  Specht is now the second youngest player on the team, behind Gleider Figuereo.

Wyatt Sparks finally is here, after getting injured after the team set came out in 2021.  I have a couple other of these cards somewhere, but I don't know were, at this moment.  A fellow grapher sent me two of the 2022 Bowman Chrome sapphire parallels of Danyer Cueva, so I got to keep one for myself.

I finally got the 1988 Topps John Habyan signed.  My friend, Billy, gave me the 1987 Classic, which looks really cool.

Habyan cleaned me out of all of the cards of his that I had pulled over the winter.  I was hoping he would be back, and I was glad that I got these taken care of.

I finished getting the 2023 Bowman paper of Lizandro Rodriguez.  I also got the chrome 2022 Bowman of Steven Zobac.  The 2017 Panini Stars and Stripes of Wesley Scott turned out nicely, as well.  I think he said he was 15 or 16 when that photo was taken.  He also said that his mom got a ton of the cards.

I was glad to almost finish off the 2023 Columbia Fireflies team set.  I was missing two players who were in the set, but not with the team.  That got me really close.  I may have to see where the other two guys are and try to get them TTM or something.

Scanning this set was a pain.  This was the reason why the scanner had to be rebooted, but I finally got everything done.  It was crazy that this team set was $18.00.  I was glad to get it, though, because a lot of the guys who signed their cards said that it was the first time they had signed any cards for anyone.

Also, the set looks pretty cool.  I like the Fireflies colors.  Having the extra cards made it so I had folks to look for at every game, which kept me engaged the whole week.

The Wood Ducks won the series 5-1, which was great.  We also welcomed a new face into our graphing group, a great guy named Jesse.  He wants me to teach him the ropes with graphing, which I enjoy doing.  It has also been nice having someone else to chat baseball with us at games.

In all, I got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 6, Gleider Figuereo x 2, Carlos Maldonaldo x 1, Andres Mesa x 4, Wyatt Sparks x 1, Tommy Specht x 10, Omar Florentino x 1, John Habyan x 30, Omar Hernandez x 1, Brennon McNair x 1, Ben Kurdna x 8, Frank Mozzicato x 9, Shane Panzini x 5, Erick Pena x 15, Lizandro Rodriguez x 4, Brett Squires x 1, Levi Usher x 1, Daniel Vazquez x 7, Marcus Olivarez x 1, Tony Pena Jr x 3, Enmanuel Pire x 1, Lizandro Rodriguez x 2, Matt Schmidt x 1, Wesley Scott x 3, Steven Zobac x 16, Ian Moller x 1, Ari Adut x 1, David Hollie x 1, Cooper McKeehan x 1, Jean Ramirez x 1, Oscar Rayo x 1, Dionmy Salon x 1, Yeison Morrobel x 1, Luis Ramirez x 2, Taylor Bloye x 1, Junior Calderon x 1, Roger Leyton x 1, Shane Panzini x 2, David Sandlin x 1, Ben Sears x 1 and Samuel Valerio x 1, Kevin Varitek x 1, Nevan Dominguez x 1, Ted Elsner x 1, Eduardo Herrera x 1, Chazz Martinez x 1, Mauricio Veliz x 1 and Cam Cauley x 3 (161 total autographs).

Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Graphing in Augusta and Columbia

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. This weekend, I drove by myself to Augusta and Columbia for a little break and graphing since last week was a tough one.  On Tuesday, I got confirmation that the Wood Ducks would be moving to Spartanburg and would be replaced supposedly with a wood bat league team.  Yeah, that's definitely not the same.  Anyway, depression aside, I got out and did some major relaxation with some graphing therapy.

The weather was terrible, but i was lucky that Augusta has a little enclave you can hang out in and still get stuff signed without getting rained on.  Nolan Martinez was one of my goals, sknxesi had sent these three cards TTM last year, only to have them returned to sender.  They're signed now with some miles on them and in my album.

I was disappointed that I had let Terry Pendleton walk by me. Had I gotten him, I'd have left earlier than I did.  I stayed til the game was called and ended up picking up a team set from the team store and added a few more autographs to the trip. 

I was pretty tired by the time I was home and able to scan everything from the trip.  Since there wasn't really a game in Augusta, I combined everything.  I went there on Saturday, then caught a double header in a misty rain on Sunday in Columbia.  The Fireflies played the Charleston Riverdogs, so I was able to knock down a couple big stacks of cards for those two loaded teams.  I also had hit Augusta because I won't see them until August and there's a chance some of those guys will already be moved up by then.

My friend, Jessie, gave me a couple Bowman Platinum of Spencer Schwellenbach.  He was really nice.  Owen Murphy signed TTM for me recently, but in black, so this blue 2022 Bowman Draft is an upgrade.

I hit a few guys in the team set while I was waiting on Pendelton to come back out.  Those guys were really nice, as well.

Pendleton finally did come back out and laughed that he had spoken to me before he went in and I didn't get my card out.  I knew I had it but wasn't even thinking.  The rain really had me out of sorts.

In Columbia, I had no shame. I had the mascot, Mason sign 3 of my cards and a girl at customer service gave me another signed card (the one in black).  The two Heritage Minors cards are ones I've had for a while and am glad I got them done.

Both the Riverdogs and Fireflies are stacked.  The double header helped me get everyone I set out to get.  The mist messed up a few of the cards, but I had a dry erase marker on me and I was able to fix the smeared cards.

I was really glad to get Dominic Keegan.  He's batting like .334 or something like that, and I feel like he will be moved up soon.  I bet he's not here when Charleston comes through Kinston in July.

I finally got some of my Ryan Spikes and Cooper Kinney cards signed.  Some of them have been in my boxes for a while.  They also have some 2022 stuff and those were good to get signed as well.

The mist was off and on but the games were pretty good.  They were also pretty quick.  My brother, Adam, joined me for part of the second game, which was nice. 

There are several 2022 Topps Pro Debut that loom really similar. That's probably part of the reason I kept getting Columbia and Charleston players mixed up. 

Steven Zobac was really cool.  Right when he put marker to card, the mist started coming down and 4 of the cards were ruined.  Or so I thought.  During the first game, I fixed them with the dry erase marker and they cleaned up.  I asked him if he would mind touching them up for me between the first and second game, and he obliged.  That was really nice of him.

During the trip, I got the following autographs: Jorge Bautista x 1, Jair Casanova x 1, Tyler Collins x 1, Dawson Dimon x 1, Francisco Floyd x 1, Didier Fuentes x 1, Elison Joseph x 1, Nolan Martinez x 3, Owen Murphy x 4, Connor Narron x 3, Terry Pendleton x 1, Spencer Schwellenbach x 4 and Ethan Workinger x 1, Jhon Diaz x 1, Chandler Simpson x 1, Xavier Isaac x 1, Dominic Keegan x 4, Cooper Kinney x 4, Trevor Martin x 4, Ryan Spikes x 8, Mason x 4, Mack Anglin x 1, Frank Mozzicato x 3, Shane Panzini x 5, Erik Pena x 5, Tony Pena, Jr. x 6, Lizandro Rodriguez x 6, Daniel Vazquez x 6 and Steven Zobac x 8 (90 total autographs).

Billy Helps Finish Some Graphs

My friend, Billy, took some of the cards I missed when Columbia was in town and got them signed for me.  I completely missed the above 1991 Crown Orioles card of John Habyan.  Thankfully, Billy hooked me up.

I had found a couple other cards of Habyan and those got done.  I had also found the Bowman Sapphire of Shane Panzini.  The cards turned out great.  I really loved getting these taken care of and into my album.  Billy has been a great friend and a lot of fun to sit next to at the Wood Duck games.  It sucks that the season is ending because I won't see Billy until next season. 

Thanks for getting these cards done for me, Billy!

July 2022 Graphing of Fireflies at Wood Ducks

Last week's series between the Fireflies and Wood Ducks showed me that I am getting to be just about ready for the season to come to a conclusion.  While I had a ton of cards to get signed, and an extra pair of hands this week, this was still one of the tougher series I have had.  The series before against the Cannonballers was probably the toughest, but this one tried my patience at times.

Still, we did well graphing.  We got a lot of different cards signed.  I was able to move a bunch of 2021 stuff out of my boxes, and add them to the album.

There were also a good many cards from older sets that I was able to get signed, and there would have been more, had the coaches for the Fireflies not been so tough to get to sign.  Tony Pena, Jr. stopped pre-game once for us during the series.  He would sign different cards, so I was able to get a few taken care of.  Later in the series, however, he would tell a group of us that he would sign outside after the game.  So, for the first time this season, I waited outside.  Pena walked by us and ignored us.  This was Saturday.

To be fair, the graphing crowd on Saturday was the largest that I had seen in Kinston since probably 2018, when Luis Robert was in town.  There was a group of graphers from the Raleigh area, and two teenagers (both named Dylan, oddly enough) who were visiting from Durham.  I talked to the first Dylan for the better part of the game, and helped him get some stuff signed after the game.  He and his friend seemed like nice people, and I think they enjoyed their time in Kinston enough to want to come back during the Fredericksburg series.

Glenn Hubbard would take the long way to the opposing dugout; skipping where we were standing entirely.  Tuesday, after the game, he went down the left field line and signed everything for everyone.  After that, he wouldn't sign for anyone at all the rest of the series.

John Habyan, by far, was the nicest of the coaches.  He stopped for everyone every time he walked by, which was great.  I didn't pull much of his stuff, and a couple of his cards were given to me by a fellow grapher.

The toughest coach was Chris Nelson.  He stopped one time after Tuesday's game, then signed one per for the three of us.  After that, he would completely ignore us, with the exception of answering me one time when I asked "Do you have time to sign" to which he replied "Ummm, Nah." and kept walking.

The pitchers, by far, were the best signers of the week.  Ben Hernandez signed everything we had over the week.  I was glad to get my blue 2021 Heritage Minors parallel signed.  The card is numbered 60/99.  The Panini Elite Extra Edition is a die cut parallel and is numbered 159/999.

I was glad to get Frank Mozzicato to sign the cards that I had.  He was the Royals first round pick last year.

I had some parallels and stuff for the Wood Ducks as well, and this 2021 Panini Elite Extra Edition of Cam Cauley is numbered 479/499.

My friend, Gerard, sent me a bunch of Jose Rodriguez parallels from 2022 Bowman and a Mitch Bratt refractor from 2021 Panini Prizm.  Regardless of the issues with the coaches, I had a good time graphing this week.  In all, I got the following autographs:

Maximo Acosta x 6, Cam Cauley x 22, Ryan Garcia x 9, Dylan MacLean x 2, Ian Moller x 10, Jose Rodriguez x 12, Jesus Azuaje x 1, John Habyan x 8, Glenn Hubbard x 16, Chris Nelson x 5, Ben Hernandez x 23, Carter Jensen x 7, Frank Mozzicato x 8, Shane Panzini x 8, Erick Pena x 21, Mitch Bratt x 1, Ben Kurdna x 7 and Tony Pena Jr x 15 (182 total autographs).

A 50/50 From Drew C

Here is a small 50/50 that I finally got back a month or so ago.  This 50/50 was taken by a new friend, Drew C., who graphs Syracuse.  He took a bunch of cards from me, then realized how tough graphing in Syracuse was.  He ended up only getting a few of the cards signed, but I was still happy with the results.  He finished off all of the 2012 Pro Debuts I could find of Mason Williams.  I had a ton of them, and got several back signed.

Drew also got this 2016 Columbia Fireflies team set card signed by Patrick Mazeinka.  My brother, Adam, got me the team set, and I was glad to finally get this card into my autograph album.

Thanks for taking the 50/50, Drew!

TTM Success - Dash Winningham

I was really happy to find an address for Dash Winningham because it helped me get this 2017 SAL All Star card from 2017signed, along with my 2013 Perfect Game.

Winningham (b. 1995) was an 9th round pick by the Mets in the 2014 June Amateur Draft out of Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida.  He played in the Mets system from 2014 to 2018, reaching High A and Independent ball in 2019.  He has 372 hits, 45 home runs and a .240 batting average across his 5 minor league seasons/

I mailed to Winningham on January 11 and got the cards back on January 22, for an 11-day TAT.

May 12, 2018 Graphing of Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Columbia Fireflies

It's fun graphing stadiums for the first time, especially when you have no clue as to where the players come out, and how accessible a stadium is.  Luckily, I was still successful last weekend at the Columbia Fireflies game.  I had a ton of cards for the Shorebirds, since they are the Single A affiliate of the Orioles.  I probably took away from some future graphing of the Keys, but since none of these guys are guaranteed of advancing, I went ahead and knocked them out.

I was most excited about meeting Ryan Ripken, son of Cal.  He was really friendly, and chatted with us for a bit.

My friend, Michael, picked up an Aberdeen set for me last season, and a few of those guys moved up to Delmarva to start the year.  That afforded me an opportunity to get quite a few cards done.  One interesting note, Zach Jarrett is a fellow graduate of UNC-Charlotte, which I made sure to point out to him.  What I didn't know up until a week before the game was that he is the son of former NASCAR champion, Dale Jarrett.

Justin Lord, one of the Shorebirds coaches, was the first auto we got.  He was at the wall talking with his family and signed for us after I helped take a photo of his family for him.

I was able to get some older Aberdeen set cards done that I had been sitting on for a while.  I also was glad to get a few of my 2013 Perfect Game cards signed that I got at the National last year.

Matthias Dietz was really nice.  He had a pretty cool mustache going, and we talked about that for a bit while he was signing these cards.  I especially like the Maryland Flag jersey on the 2017 South Atlantic League Prospect card.

Finally, here are some of the other Ryan Ripkens that I got done.

I wanted to get the Fireflies postgame, but we were all tired from a busy day, so we left early (after 14 total runs were scored) and went out to eat.  I plan on going back this season and graphing with my brother.  I'm sure he would be up for some graphing...