On the signing front

We go back a while for the visits of the Hickory Crawdads to Hagerstown and the Salem Red Sox and Wilmington Blue Rocks to Frederick.

Hickory hadn't had many changes since their first visit,so it was pretty much the same old same old except for pitcher Joe Wieland,who was very impressive in defeating the Suns.
Other than Wieland,the only difference was what they signed from their first visit.
One quick note on pitcher Sam Brown,who was promoted to Hickory on the last day of the visit and seemed stunned that I recognized him,had a card and knew he was in town.
Nice guy too....

I had very little for Salem as well.
Their team set was not released,so I had just a few fill ins.
Ryan Dent signed his Bowman, the sometimes unwilling Oscar Tejada was willing on this day and catcher Tim Fedorwicz finished the day off.
Told you I didn't have much.....

The Wilmingtn Blue Rocks did have their team set ready and I was able to do quite well with them.
The biggest catch was first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Hosmer had a spotty reputation for signing,but signed every card that I had and was very nice as well.
The lesson here is-remember everyone has bad days and if a collector sees them on a bad day,the reputation can be different than the player actually is.
Christian Colon was another nice pickup as the number four pick in the 2010 draft made his major league debut this night against the Keys.
Shortstop Rey Navarro was recently acquired from Arizona and signed both of his cards for me.
Colon signed both of his cards for me and chatted a bit about collecting cards as a youngster.
John Lamb is having a tremendous 2010 and was promoted to AA recently and signed his Appalachian League prospect card.
Three more pitching prospects round out the Royals crew as Tim Melville,Buddy Baumann and Chris Dwyer all signed as well as former Pirate farmhand Jamie Romak,who is currently playing third for the Blue Rocks.

Time for some thanks around this time.
Thanks to "The Jeff" for his help in getting some of the Frederick Keys.
Thanks to Jason Christensen for his help with the Eastern League and his always tossing in doubles that add to my collection

Mail signatures around this time included former Reds (among others) pitcher Wayne Granger,former Yankee hurler Steve Kline,former Pirate fireballer Brian Fisher and my favorite of all,Gentleman Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox and Phillies.
Lonborg has long been a favorite of mine and the cards were a great addition.

Next time on the signing front will be featuring the West Virginia Power,Rome Braves and a abbreviated visit to Frederick for the Kinston Indians...