2014 IP Successes

[icee82]

A miserable night of graphing in Charlotte tonight. First of all, the Charlotte Knights have never been able to organize any event and getting information from them about an event is impossible. I could obtain information from the Kremlin much easier than the Knights. It must be a White Sox thing because all of the minor league teams in the area that have an affiliation with the White Sox cannot plan an event. The Winston-Salem Dash have improved dramatically but then stumble at times. The Knights were having a tribute night to the Charlotte O's. Over thirty former O's were supposed to be in attendance. The plan was to have them on the field at 5:30 when the gates opened. Well, it began raining and the Knights obviously had NO backup plan. There was limited accessibility to any of these players and you literally had to catch them going into a suite. Of course many of these guys have been out of the limelight so you really have no clue as to who they are. There was no organized meet and greet so that fans could reminisce with them. Overall, the Knights get 1/2 of a star for tonight's horrendous performance. Of course the graphers pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. None of these guys were big time names as neither of the Ripken brothers were present.

Jim Schaffer 1/1 (OMLB for my Reds' project)
Dave Ford 4/4
John Stefero 3/3
Sammy Stewart 2/2
Bill Swaggerty 4/4

The rain prevented any current team graphing.

[SDL]

A miserable night of graphing in Charlotte tonight. First of all, the Charlotte Knights have never been able to organize any event and getting information from them about an event is impossible. I could obtain information from the Kremlin much easier than the Knights. It must be a White Sox thing because all of the minor league teams in the area that have an affiliation with the White Sox cannot plan an event. The Winston-Salem Dash have improved dramatically but then stumble at times. The Knights were having a tribute night to the Charlotte O's. Over thirty former O's were supposed to be in attendance. The plan was to have them on the field at 5:30 when the gates opened. Well, it began raining and the Knights obviously had NO backup plan. There was limited accessibility to any of these players and you literally had to catch them going into a suite. Of course many of these guys have been out of the limelight so you really have no clue as to who they are. There was no organized meet and greet so that fans could reminisce with them. Overall, the Knights get 1/2 of a star for tonight's horrendous performance. Of course the graphers pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. None of these guys were big time names as neither of the Ripken brothers were present.

Jim Schaffer 1/1 (OMLB for my Reds' project)
Dave Ford 4/4
John Stefero 3/3
Sammy Stewart 2/2
Bill Swaggerty 4/4

The rain prevented any current team graphing.

So I take it Sammy Stewart is out of jail for now...

[icee82]

Hey SDL. Yes, he is out of jail for now. He actually appeared to be happy and at peace with things. Very talkative to the fans and seemed to embrace the fans. Of course only the seasoned graphers knew him so there was little waiting.

[icee82]

The Jameis Winston circus rolled into Winston-Salem, NC today. It was a mad house and to be honest, I did not see a single person that I recognized which means that none of the regular graphers were there. These looked more like "normal" fans. LOL They lined everyone down the wall on the third base line. He walked to the extreme right side of the line down the line and began there. Everyone would move up and he was standing at the same place. He must have signed 200 items because the line was huge. There was no double dipping and premium items such as photographs, SI's, and helmets were ALL personalized. I watched him sign about ten different items and all of them he personalized. One of the Florida State "handlers" was there to greet him and immediately gave him a black Sharpie. Uggghh. However one guy in front of me got him to switch off to silver and I was able to get him to switch off to blue.

Jameis Winston 1/1
Matt Antonelli 4/4

[SDL]

At the Lakeland @ Clearwater game tonight. Black Sharpie

Mike Maroth: Tigers action shot
Larry Herndon: 8 x 10 blowup of his Fleer '88 card

[SDL]

At the Daytona Cubs @ Clearwater Threshers game.

Ron Villone: Two 8 x 10 Nationals action shots and a Pirates 8 x 10 action shot.
Yao-Lin Wang: Screenshot from the 2012 WBC Qualifier (he played for Chinese Taipei)

[icee82]

I needed Dave Concepcion on a project that I have been working on for several years. He was appearing at a card shop in Columbus, Ohio so I left yesterday to make the six hour drive to Columbus. One more name off the list on this project.

Dave Concepcion 1/1 in red paint pen

[icee82]

Another road trip today but closer to home...well about 100 miles away but who is counting?

I went to Zebulon as Steve Foster, the former Red is a roving instructor.

Steve Foster 2/2

Then I headed to Durham to graph pregame inside and had good luck. I did not see Nathan Karns tonight who I really needed.

Neil Allen 4/4
Cole Figueroa 1/1
Hak-Ju Lee 4/5
Enny Romero 3/3 (no dupes)
C.J. Riefenhauser 1/1
Jerry Sands 1/1

Was going to graph post game in Winston-Salem but I needed to get a bunch of items signed by Tim Anderson who is now on the DL.

[SDL]

At the Jupiter @ Clearwater game today

Brian Schneider: A posed Expos 8 x 10, and one action shot each with the Phillies and Nationals. Black Sharpie

[icee82]

On Saturday, I graphed the Louisville Bats at Durham. I graphed the walk in, pre-game, and post game.

Jason Bourgeois 2/4 (got him walking in and pre-game but he busted me post game and said "I have already signed three for you". I corrected him as he had only signed two. LOL)
Mike Constanzo 1/1
David Holmberg 2/7 (he was 2 per across the board)
Corky Miller 3/3
Thomas Neal 1/3--This guy is a piece of work. I caught him on the walk in and he signed Hernan Ibibarren's card. I said "you signed the wrong card, here are yours" and he said "got to go". Nice!!!
Chris Nelson 4/5
Ted Power 1/1
Max Ramirez 1/1
Chad Reineke 1/1
Chad Rogers 3/3
Pedro Villareal 1/1
Chien-Ming Wang 5/5

I saw Donald Lutz arriving from Pensacola but I already had him. We talked for about ten minutes because this was his first trip to Triple A so security would not let him in. I could have gotten 20 cards signed if I had any. Nick Christiani arrived as he was heading down after being sent down after the doubleheader.

[9&10]

From the Padres @ Rockies game last Saturday night:

Joaquin Benoit
Huston Street
Chase Headley
Jose Valentin
Will Venable
Jedd Gyorko
Everth Cabrera x2

The best one, though, was Dave Roberts on a 2004 World Series ball. So far I've gotten Derek Lowe, Mark Bellhorn, Doug Mientkiewicz, and now Roberts on 2004 WS balls. Getting nearly 1/4 of the 25-man roster is a good haul for a regular season MLB game IMO.

140518_003(1).jpg

[9&10]

I needed Dave Concepcion on a project that I have been working on for several years. He was appearing at a card shop in Columbus, Ohio so I left yesterday to make the six hour drive to Columbus. One more name off the list on this project.

Dave Concepcion 1/1 in red paint pen

Damn six hours? That's dedication right there. Did the autograph cost anything?

[SDL]

Damn six hours? That's dedication right there. Did the autograph cost anything?

icee has dedication...he drive HOURS to get down here for the Rays FanFest to get Tom Hume and Andy McGaffigan...

[icee82]

The Concepcion autograph was $40. It was a good road trip though!!!

[SDL]

At a WalMart in North Tampa today...Matt Joyce. Signed a screenshot of him rounding the bases. Blue Sharpie.