Max With the Last of the 2024 50-50 Returns

Catching up came be tough when you've got a lot going on and a lot to do in the coming weeks.  I made time today to scan a ton of cards so I could pre-load some blog posts that should carry me through Thanksgiving. 

One of the most important batches of cards that needed to be scammed was the final box of signed stuff that Max took care of this past season.  He really helped me out with moving cards out of my boxes.  He also hooked me up with some great autos, like the above 2022 Topps Heritage Andrew McCutchen.  I haven't been able to get Cutch TTM or IP, so this was an awesome addition to the autograph album. 

Max sent me thhis 2023 2023 Topps White Sox team set carx signed by Pedro Grifol.  It appears that Max got Grifol pretty close to the time he was let go by the White Sox.  I loved Max's note on the penny sleeve.  I kept it on the card in the album. 

I was glad to finally get this 2015 Bowman Chrome mini shimmer of Kyle Freeland signed.  I kept coming across it in the boxes; it is nice to fi ally have it locked in place in the autograph album. 

Max always helps me move these random team cards.  They always come in handy while graphing, whe. You run into guys who either don't have cards or you weren't able to find any in a pinch.  He got me: Jeff Bannister x 3, Brody Basso, Cam Boozer, Henry Blanco, Bob Carpenter and Ryan Borucki.

This batch of cards consists of: Darnell Coles, Hunter Gaddis, Willie Harris, Porter Hodge, Marcus Jensen and Chris Johnson x 3.

This next batch: Chris Johnson, Don Kelly x 3, Torey Lovullo x 2 and Tyson Miller x 2.

Here are Carlos Narvaez, Mickel Otanez, Max Schuemann, Derek Shelton, Cade Smith and Caleb Thielbar.

Finally, this Yankees card is signed by Luke Weaver.

These landscape-oriented cards are of Jorge Lopez, Torey Lovullo, Joe Ryan and Will Venable.  I was crossing my fingers that Max could help me out with the Joe Ryan.  That is such a cool card, I would have hated for it to stay in the Bowman box missing ink.

These are Spencer Arrighetti, Javier Assad, Brandon Bielak, Daz Cameron x 3 and Willi Castro x 2.  A couple team set cards got taken care of, which was good.  I don't know if I ever would have gotten a chance to get the Arrighetti signed.  Getting those Daz Cameron cards really helped me clear out some room in the Box Of Shame because I had those left over from when he was with Norfolk last season.

The next cards are: Travis Chapman, Enyel De Los Santos x 2, Ezequiel Duran, Damion Easley x 4 and Carlos Febles.  Check out De Los Santos's autograph. It is a pretty nice one, especially on that 2019 Bowman Heritage.  I also got some Febles done that I had left over from when he was a coach with the Red Sox.

Here are some more: Carlos Febles x 2, Kyle Finnegan, Jake Fraley, Kevin Frandsen, David Fry, Ryan Goins, Brad Goldberg and Jon Gray.  Even more Febles got signed, which pretty much wipes me out of his stuff (other than one I found tonight while looking for something else).

This batch: Mark Gubicza x 2, Ricky Gutierrez x 2, Willie Harris, Nico Hoerner, Jeff Huson, Tim Hyers and Jimmy Jones.  The Ricky Gutierrez 1995 Topps are cool cards.  I happened to have the base and the Cyberstats parallel.  I also had the Willie Harros for a long time, since he came through Kinston as a coach for Myrtle Beach in 2017.  The card got buried in a box following that season, and I was able to locate it and get it out to Max.

Even more: Jimmy Jones, Jakob Junis, Andrew Knapp, Justin Lawrence, Korey Lee, Luke Little, Jorge Lopez and Nicky Lopex x 2.  A lot of these came out of a box that I had kept aside of guys who I thought I'd see in Kinston (like the Korey Lee, Luke Little, or the 2018 Heritage Minors Nicky Lopez).  I was glad to ckear stuff out of that box.

These cards are of Luke Maile, Nick Martinez, Sam Moll, Eli Morgan, Jerry Narron x 2, Tomas Nido, James Paxton and Mitchell Parker.  I've gotten Narron in person, finally, but had several cards left over.  He's not the easiest to graph, so these getting done was great.  I had the Tomas Nido left over from when I saw Syracuse last year and missed Nido.  I had bought the card with the hope of getting him IP, but he wouldn't stop.  With Max's help, the Bowman Hi Tek is now signed.

These cards are of Bo Porter, Mike Redmond, John Schneider, Jon Singleton, Josh Staumont x 2, Tyler Stephenson and Ross Stripling x 2.  The 2016 Freddie Freeman signed by Bo Porter was a cool touch by Max.  I doubt I'll be able to get Freeman, but you never know.

Here are: Ross Stripling, Brent Suter, Jayce Tingler, Ezequiel Tovar, Ildemaro Vargas x 2, Will Venable, Jeff Ware and Ron Washington.  Obviously, I have Washington in my 1987 set, so this one goes in my regular autograph album.   I'm also surprised that I didn't already have that 1992 Topps Jeff Ware signed already.

This final batch is of Ron Washington, Alika Williams x 2 and Jacob Wilson x 3.  My buddy Josh probably would love these Jacob Wilsons, since he's a huge Jack Wilson fan.  I'm pretty sure I sent him a few unsigned Wilsons. 

This Jacob Young 2024 Topps retail blue parallel looks pretty nice.  I had forgotten I pulled this one.

Finally, this Tanner Banks 2022 Topps update wraps up the stuff Max sent.  I need to look at trying to get Bennett Sousa to sign his side of the card at some point.

It took me longer than I wanted, but I finally get everything Max sent scanned and uploaded.  I hate that it took me so long, but life gets in the way sometimes.  I look forward to the next lists that Max sends me.  Let's hope some of the names come out of the Box Of Shame or maybe a few from what Max calls the Death Pile; the pile of stuff that gets sent back unsigned.  I keep all of those separated with the hope that either of us gets a second chance at these guys.

Thanks so much for hooking me up, as always, Max!

April 30, 2017, Wood Ducks Vs. Dash Graphing

Chris and I went to the Down East Wood Ducks game against the Winston-Salem Dash today to try to get some more autographs.  We did really well today, getting  bunch of autos from the Dash, as well as the Wood Ducks.  The above 2011 Topps cognac parallel turned out really nice.  I had been hoarding Harris cards for TTM, but I was able to get everything that I had signed, which helped out tremendously.

Harris (b. 1978) was really nice to Chris and I.  He signed everything that we had, and then Chris gave me all but one of the cards that he had gotten signed.  I had bought all of his Orioles cards off of COMC, since I wanted to add them to the collection.

Harris played in the majors from 2001 to 2012 for the Orioles, White Sox, Red Sox, Braves, Nationals, Mets and Reds.  He had 580 hits, 39 home runs and a .238 batting average in his career.  He won the World Series in 2005 with the White Sox.

Brian Drahman was really nice.  He also signed everything that Chris and I had.  I had found 5 1992 Topps of his between my boxes and the ones at my LCS.  Drahman (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1991 to 1994 for the White Sox and Marlins.  He had a career record of 3-2 with 29 strike outs and a 3.54 ERA.

I had two cards of prospect, Zack Collins.  He would only sign one, but this 2015 Stars and Stripes turned out really nice.

I busted a jumbo box of 2017 Bowman yesterday and took a few cards from it to the game today.  I was successful in getting all of them signed, starting with these two (a chome and paper) from Dane Dunning.  He was the only player that I got after the game.  The Dash won 6-1, but Dunning was really the only guy I had left that I could get.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Josh Morgan show up in my 2017 Bowman box.  He signed both cards for me, but was off from the game today.  It was just a routine day off.  He was still nice enough to sign.

Between Chris and I, we got four Howard Johnson cards signed.  I still have a ton of his cards, but he has been really nice and has signed for us each time.

Johnson (b. 1960) played in the majors from 1982 to 1995 for the Tigers, Mets and Rockies.  He had 1,229 hits, 228 home runs and a .249 batting average.  He was a two-time All Star and Silver Slugger (1989 and 1991) and his best finish in the MVP Award voting occurred in both of those seasons, with a fifth place finish.  He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1984 and the Mets in 1986.  He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2001, but didn't receive any votes.

Finally, I got another of my Hickory Crawdads cards signed, this one by Chuck Moorman.  A lot of this year's Wood Ducks were Crawdads last year, so I have gotten a few of the cards signed.

Chris and I did really well at this game, I think.  I am low on Wood Ducks cards, so I think I will be trying to refill at some point soon.