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We just got back from the 2009 Arizona Fall League and again it was a very successful trip. The Stephen Strasburg watch was on and everyone was after his autograph. As for the rest of the teams there really wasn't anyone who was super difficult. There were players with limits on how many cards they would sign but at least they were consistent and would sign.We used our "Arizona Fall Baseball" card primarily and graphed nearly every player in the AFL. Here is a link to see what we have available: The Autograph Card Store.
And remember that we have other blank baseball cards, as well as other sports and non-sports cards, available at our website: www.TheAutographCard.com.
If you have read my posts you will see that I saw the Defenders a couple of weeks earlier in Reading, PA. The whole purpose of seeing them early was to be able to get Madison Bumgarner on multiple cards. He is signing only one card at a time and with so many different cards you need to max your signing opportunities.
So going into the game in Bowie, before the Connecticut team came in, I only had a few other cards besides Bumgarner's. Even with a fairly large number of collectors, I was able to get nearly every player, including Bumgarner, except for starting pitcher Geivy Garcia, and pitching coach Ross Grimsley, who was attending a Baltimore Oriole function.
Connecticut continues to be a great signing team with little attitude. Jackson Williams continues to one of our favorites, having met him for the first time last year in the fall instructional league.
Reading was a little less exciting without Michael Taylor, but Kyle Drabek was still there. Drabek has been in the middle of the all of the trade talks going on between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies as a team have been good signers all year. Joe Savery has different limits at different times but seems to always sign when asked. I continue to miss Chance Chapman but that might be more of a timing issue as he comes out of the locker room right before the game starts and the umpires are on the field.
Game 1: Portland Sea Dogs vs. Trenton Thunder
For the second time this year we were able to get autographs from three different games. The day started out in Trenton, in the early afternoon, as we were able to get most of the Thunders players coming in. Being there that early was fortunate as Zach McAllister was sent up to New York City to be evaluated by the team doctors.
The whole idea of getting there early was to meet the Sea Dogs' bus with the main goal of getting autographs from Lars Anderson and Junichi Tazawa. Luckily we were able to get both of these players before they entered the ballpark, and was able to get a few of the other players as well such as Iggy Suarez, John Otness and Felix Doubront. Once inside we were able to get a bunch of the other players right before the game started (Brye Cox, Ryne Lawson, Adam Mills, Ryan Khoury, Ryan Kailish, Matt Sheely, Josh Reddick, Jarrod Plummer, Chad Rhoades, Chris Province, Juan Apadaca, and batting coach Dave Joppie). Several other players also signed on the other side of the dugout.
The crowd of collectors was pretty big but surprisingly not as large as we expected. After the game started we headed back down I-95 with the intention of stopping at the Wilmington Blue Rocks game mostly to see which pitchers were charting in the stands.
Game 2: Frederick Keys vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks
On the way to Wilmington, DE from Trenton the skys opened up and a huge storm hit. When we arrived the rain had stopped but the field, as it turned out, was unplayable and the game was called. Being there at that time payed off as were able to complete most of the Blue Rocks' 2009 team set as the players left the stadium.
After finishing we continued down I-95 to Aberdeen, MD where the IronBirds were playing the Vermont Swamp Monsters.
Game 3: Vermont Lake Monsters vs. Aberdeen IronBirds
This game was delayed by the storm and was in the 8th inning when we arrived. We didn't have a lot of cards so we were only looking for a handful of the Vermont players as they exited the field after the game. Even though Jack McGeary had started the game and went only 4 innings he was in the dugout at the end of the game. So along with him we got all of the other players we had cards for: J.P Ramirez, Graham Hicks, Sandy Leon, and Washington's 2009 2nd round draft pick, Jeffrey Kobernus.
After that we went around and got a bunch of the IronBirds as they left the stadium. Thankfully we had team sets cards as well as our blank cards as we asked every player to sign at this point.
So thanks to the weather we were able to graph at three different stadiums in one trip, in one day.
On July 4 I went to see the Connecticut Defenders take on the Phillies in Reading. With Madison Bumgarner Connecticut has one of the best pitching prospects in the minors. Madison has signed for me in the past both in the fall instructional league and while playing with Augusta last year, but usually only signs one card each time. Since he has some many cards that have come out since last year, including a new 2009 Eastern League Top Prospect card, I wanted to get to Reading early in order to meet the bus and maximize my autograph opportunitys with Madison. This actually worked as I was able to get two cards signed.Also on the team was Tim Alderson, another top San Fransisco prospect. He signed all 5 cards I gave him, no problem. The rest of the team all signed well too except for Mike McBryde. He is also one of the Giants' top prospects. He ignored a request early on by another collector and said no going to the field before the game. Now I'm not making a commentary about this, just reporting what I experienced. It was just stark in that everyone else took the time with all of the fans to accommodate their autograph requests. Even Bumgarner held court heading to the stands to chart signing for everyone.
Actually thinking about it I might have to include Eddy Martinez-Esteve with McBryde as far as not signing right before the game. He went right by everyone to and from the field without stopping to sign, but he had signed two cards for me coming off the bus early in the afternoon.For those who want to know, the Reading Phillies team set is also out.
This year's California-Carolina All-Star Game was held in Lake Elsinore. The Storm made an All-Star card set and only four players out of the set did not make the trip - Brian Matusz (Frederick), Jason Heyward (Myrtle Beach), Alberto Bastardo (Inland Empire), and Christian Marrero (Winston-Salem).
There was an autograph session for both leagues of about an hour each. After years of going through a multitude of team autograph sessions it's always an amazing thing to witness. Since a different organization has the All-Star Game each year, no one has the experience to hold these sessions properly. This year's was your typical line-the-players-up and let people go down the line. That only works for so long until the line just never moves due to the sheer volume of people. While most people made it through the first session with the Carolina League, the line was so long that you have a slim chance of making it through again for the California League. When will teams learn to spread the players out, two or three to a table, and let people line up where they want to. This way most people will get some autographs instead of none which is what happened when the line stopped moving.
Thankfully the players continued to sign on the field on both sides so with a little bit of effort completing the team set was no problem. As for the game, the California League won with a 10th inning homer from Jon Gaston of the Lancaster JetHawks. Now to start planning for next year's game which is supposed to be with the Winston-Salem Dash.
While my main passion is baseball sometimes it's fun to go outside my box. On Sunday, June 14, I took my daughter to meet one of her favorite authors at a book signing. Mary Downing Hahn writes children's stories for 9-14 year olds but her adults love her books as well.
After my daughter got her 6-8 books signed I used one of our Universal Cards to get an autograph myself. It is signed in ballpoint and shows you that these cards great with just about any type of pen.
This was another Friday double-header with the Frederick Keys. The first game started at 5 p.m. but I was able to catch the second one which ended up going a full 9 innings thanks to a Michael Burgess 2-run homer in the 6th inning. Potomac then blew it wide-open in the 9th inning with 7 runs.
As for graphing after the game I was able to get Burgess, Danny Espinosa, and Francisco Plasencia coming off the field after the game. The Frederick Keys' 2009 team set was out so I also did what I could as the players left the stadium too.
I was able to complete a trifecta this weekend collecting autographs. Starting out in Harrisburg graphing with the New Britain Rock Cats, then post game with the Salem Red Sox in Frederick, and then post game with the Lake County Captains in Hagerstown.
Rain outs and various starting time made this possible. Harrisburg started at 7 pm so I did pregame there. After getting the last couple of pitchers in the stands I headed to Frederick where they were just finishing their game that started at 6 pm. From there I headed to Hagerstown and got there about 10 minutes after the game ended but was able to do Lake County loading the bus. This was all possible with my wife's help who was keeping check of the games on the internet.
New Britain is good signing team. Never noticed any attitude with any of the players. Salem has a few players who have limits and Lin is tough to stop on the way to the field, but overall a great team too, as is Lake County.
The kicker was when I got the mail after getting home. Waiting on me was my first shipment of pre-ordered team sets waiting on my. I sort of expected the Lake County team set to be there, but so was New Britain. Luckily I will see them both later in the year.
I went up to Harrisburg to see the Senators take on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats today and to do a little pre-game autographing. I hadn't seen NH yet and as it turned out they were one of the nicer teams to deal with in the Eastern League this year. Here's who I got pre-game today:
David Cooper (Toronto's 2008 1st Rd Draft Pick)
Brian Jeroloman
Al Quintana
Chris Gutierrez
Adrian Martin
Edgar Estanga
Sean Stidfole
Luis Sanchez
Nate Starner
Brad Emaus
Bryan Kervin
Brian Dopirak (finally got 2004 Just Rookies and 2005 Just Road to the Show)
Danny Farquhar
Tom Signore
Nick Gorneault
Adam Calderone
Cody Hearther
And I was able to get around to the Harrisburg side before the game started and got several cards from Joel Guzman.
By the way, Harrisburg does have their 2009 team set out, the first I've seen this year in person.
We've been asked by a lot of people if we could do a NASCAR style card. This is what we've come up with.
Enjoy!
