On the signing front

On the signing front begins with this post and will continue over the next week in recapping the month of April.
I am hoping to use my first regularly scheduled time off this week to have the Browns and Seahawks draft reviews finished and the Devils season recaps as well.
Looks like a big plate and all might not be completed,but one can hope...

I already looked at meet the team,which was pretty successful at taking care of a large amount of the Suns before the season even started,so lets start with the first team to enter Hagerstown,the Hickory Crawdads.
The Crawdads are affiliated with the Texas Rangers and with Hickory being the only Ranger team on the East Coast,are a popular attraction for collectors.
Last season,the Crawdads featured one of the top prospects in baseball in pitcher Martin Perez,but no such luck this season.
Hickory's top prospects were all pitchers as Robbie Ross,Wilmer Font and Neil Ramirez led the list.
All signed,but Ross and Ramirez were both very good signers and stood out amongst the Crawdads.
I also had two signatures come in through the mail around this time as 70's journeyman righthander Jerry Johnson and former Pirate,Indian and Giant power hitting catcher Gary Alexander signed.

The Lakewood Blue Claws were next to visit Hagerstown.
The Blue Claws were a tough team,but it wasn't their fault as much as the ill-advised 35 minute before the game opening of the gates.
Thankfully,that was ended at the conclusion of the Lakewood series and I (among others) thank the Suns management for listening to the complaints of the fans.
When you are only getting four to six players an evening,that is going to take time to finish and Lakewood took every bit of those four evenings.
The Blue Claws featured former number one pick Anthony Hewitt and shortstop Jeremy Barnes,who has hit well at each level that he has played at.
Hewitt flashed the type of athletic ability that brought one back to Dominic Brown's Lakewood stint in 2008,but may take a little longer to develop as a player.
Former major league catcher Mark Parent is the Blue Claw skipper and he was very engaging on the evening that he signed for me and I was lucky enough to recognize roving instructor Steve Henderson,who was kind enough to chat about his being involved in the trade that sent Tom Seaver to the Reds.
Henderson's signing of his card with the Buffalo Bison provided the most unintentionally funny autograph in the collection.
Mail signatures from this time included former Indian lefty Rick Waits,Giant reliever Gary Lavelle,Dodger bullpenner Lance Rautzahn,well traveled outfielder Mark Whiten and Brave/Ranger reliever Adrian Devine.

Next time will cover our first trip for a Cincinatti Red team in Lynchburg and our evening in Harrisburg and a opportunity for someone that you may have heard of by the name of Strasburg.....