Saturday, August 6, 2011

1982 Donruss, Rene Lachemann



#600 Rene Lachemann

Here is a card that I got signed in Colorado Springs last month. Rene is the hitting coach for the Sky Sox and I was able to get this card signed right before the game started. At first, I didn't think I was going to get Rene's autograph. He was the last Sox player/coach to come out of the clubhouse and when I asked him to sign, he told me that he didn't have time. Then a clubbie came up to him and talked to him for a minute or two, so I hung around. As soon as the clubbie walked off, Rene came straight over to me and signed my cards. For once, my passive persistence paid off.

Rene only managed the Mariners for one full season. He replaced Maury Wills (who I didn't realize managed) 25 games into the 1981 season after the M's started out 6-18. Rene finished out the first half of that strike-shortened season 15-18 and then went 23-29 over the second half. He was at the helm for all of the '82 season and his team finished 76-86, which placed them fourth. In '83, Rene and his Mariners were 26-47 before he was fired.

I got three cards signed by Rene at the Sox game and this is the only one that I didn't have to buy. I almost bought a Mariners card of him because I didn't like the way this card looked. I thought that it was too dark and that an autograph might not show up very well on it. But, I decided to try my luck and save some money and it looks like I made a good choice. This card came out looking much better that I ever thought that it would.

It appears that this card is an error. The "e" is missing from Rene's last name.

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