The Rest of 2008 Topps Heritage, Part II

#472 Manny Corpas
#479 Tony LaRussa
#532 Willie Bloomquist
#561 Mike Aviles
#628 Esteban German
#670 Joakim Soria
#672 Taylor Teagarden
#RP2 Mike Aviles

Manny Corpas- This is the second card that Manny signed for me at a Royals game in 2010 while he was still with the Rockies.

Tony LaRussa- I got this one signed through the mail in 2009. I sent him his '81 Donruss card to sign and threw this one in with it. I still need to get an A's card signed by him and maybe even a card from his playing days. In case you are wondering, it looks like Tony still signs through the mail. If you need his autograph, send it care of the Boston Red Sox.

Willie Bloomquist- Willie signed this card for me in Minneapolis when I went to the Twins final regular season series at the Metrodome. Willie was playing for the Royals at the time.

Mike Aviles- I got this card signed by the Royals parking lot in 2009. Before leaving for Kansas City that week, I went by my local card shop to see if he had this card. He did not, so he opened packs until he pulled this one for me.

Esteban German- Esteban signed this one for me at Royals Fanfest in 2009.

Taylor Teagarden- I got this one signed in Springdale, Arkansas in 2010 while Taylor was playing for the Frisco Rough Riders. He was nice enough to sign for me from the dugout after the game.

Mike Aviles- In case you couldn't tell by the super thin signature, this card was signed at the same time as the other Aviles card on here. It was a regular Sharpie, so I am not sure why it came out so thin. He must have just been grazing the surface of the card with it.

On a side note, I almost posted one of these cards of Mike Aviles as its own post. Then, after a quick search, I realized I posted his 2006 Bowman card way back in 2011. Yikes! It took me eight years to get from my 2006 cards to my 2008s.

2008 Topps, Part IV

#597 Kyle Davies
#623 Trey Hillman
#UH15 Kevin Cash
#UH89 Joakim Soria
#UH92 Eric Hinske
#UH144 Robinson Tejeda

I am almost done with '08 Topps, so I had to break down the last two post to six cards each. This one is a little Royals heavy.

Kyle Davies- Believe it or not, I got this card signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008.

Trey Hillman- I almost posted this card by itself a few weeks back. Then I remembered that I posted a minor league card of Trey many years ago. This one was signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008.

Kevin Cash- I got this card signed in Omaha in 2011 while Kevin was coaching for Round Rock. He has moved up a bit since then and is currently the manager for the Rays.

Joakim Soria- The one current player in the batch, who is currently pitching for the A's. Unlike the last two Royals, I got this card signed at Royals Fanfest in 2009.

Eric Hinske- I got this card signed last year outside of Kauffman Stadium when Eric got dropped off from an Uber. That is another thing that has changed while 'graphing outside of The K in the last ten years. Players now get dropped off from Ubers instead of cabs. The cabs could be seen from miles away and the Ubers now just magically appears. Eric was a coach for the Angels at the time, but has since moved on to the Diamondbacks.

Robinson Tejeda- I got this one signed by the Royals parking lot, but it was is in 2009. I think this is the first time that I got a players base card and update card signed from the same year.

The Rest of 2008 Topps, Part III

#429 Billy Butler
#441 Miguel Olivo
#483 Mike Jacobs
#498 Matt Chico
#549 Gregg Zaun
#556 John Gibbons
#577 John Buck
#589 Dave Trembley
#594 Andy LaRoche

Billy Butler- Like most of the Royals cards from this set, Billy signed this card for me by the Royals parking lot in 2008.

Miguel Olivo- Also by the Royals lot in '08.

Mike Jacobs- Got this card signed by Mike at Royals Fanfest in 2009.

Matt Chico- I got this one signed at a Wingnuts game in 2012 while Matt was playing for the visiting New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League.

Gregg Zaun- Gregg signed this one for me in Kauffman Stadium in 2009. He was with the Orioles at the time and he signed right after batting practice.

John Gibbons- The former Royals bench coach signed this card at a Royals game in 2009.

John Buck- John signed this card by the Royals parking lot after a game in 2008. He made an error that cost his team the game, but was still kind enough to sign some autographs afterwards.

Dave Trembley- For some reason, I thought I posted Dave's 2007 Topps card. Well, it turns out that he wasn't in '07 Topps. I was thinking of the Sam Perlozzo manager card that I got signed. So, this card should have been posted on its own. I will make up for it when I get to 2009 Topps Heritage. Dave signed this card for me at a Royals game in 2009.

Andy LaRoche- I got Andy on multiple occasions as he once played for the Wingnuts and also played with the Kansas Stars. This is one of the ones he signed for me as a Nut in 2015.

Posting all of these cards from 2008 Topps makes me realize how much I miss manager cards. For some guys, a manager card would be the only Topps card they ever get.

The Rest of 2008 Topps, Part II

#208 David DeJesus
#237 Eric Wedge
#302 Horacio Ramirez
#313 Kameron Loe
#318 Ned Yost
#333 Jayson Nix
#342 Matt Belisle
#403 Nate Robertson
#404 Cecil Cooper

David DeJesus- This is another one that I got signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008. This one was done a month before the German and Gload cards from the previous post.

Eric Wedge- I got this one signed by Eric during Indians batting practice in Kansas City in 2008. In case you haven't heard, last month Eric was named the new head coach at Wichita State. Hopefully he can bring some luster back to a once proud baseball institution.

Horacio Ramirez- Horacio signed for me after a Royals game from the team parking lot in 2008.

Kameron Loe- I got Kameron after an Oklahoma Redhawks game in 2008.

Ned Yost- Ned yosted this card for me after Royals batting practice at The K in 2011. Normally, you can't see the Royals take batting practice at home. But, you can buy early bird stadium tour tickets that get you in just in time for Royals BP. They cost about $10-12 a person and you still need a separate game ticket. In all actuality, all the early bird ticket is good for is getting a great 'graphing spot.

Jayson Nix- I believe this is the third card I have posted of Jayson. There should be three more coming and all six of them came from the Kansas Stars game I attended at the 2016 NBC Wolrd Series.

Matt Belisle- Outside of The K in 2010. That was about the time that it really started to suck 'graphing outside that ballpark. Since then, it has primarily been about hitting up the visiting team as they straggle in.

Nate Robertson- Here is the third card of Wichita native, Nate Robertson, that I have posted on here. The first one came from a Wichita card show and the second was from a Stars game. This one was obtained at the same card show as the first card. That show was at Rock's Dugout in Wichita. Rock usually hosts six shows a year, but I think he cut back to four this year. He always either brings in someone to sign or he has Beckett there grading cards. Unfortunately, Rock hasn't had a baseball player there signing in quite some time and, because of that, I don't think that I have attended a show there in three years.

Cecil Cooper- I posted that first card of Cecil way back in 2009. That card was obtained through the mail, just like this one. But, this card was signed about a year ago when I was getting a bunch of Senior League cards signed. I needed Cecil for that set and sent this one along, too, just so I could have a manager card signed by him.

2008 Topps, John McLaren

#463 John McLaren

Here is a card that I got signed last year at a Wingnuts game. John was the manager of the visiting Texas AirHogs and I was able to get him to sign for me prior to the game starting.

Last year was John's only season with the AirHogs and it was an interesting one to say the least. Prior to that season, the team partnered with a the Chinese National baseball team and brought about thirty players from that club over to the States to get a taste of American baseball. There were still the normal minor league castoffs on the team and they were always shuffling their roster to get all of the Chinese players some action. Needless to say, but the team did not fare too well and they finished the season 25-75.

At the game I attended, I thought it would be cool if my kid could get some autographs from some of the Chinese players. We had a baseball and got about five of the guys to sign it. Then, Casio Grider, an American, saw my kid and asked for the ball. He then took it into the dugout and made everybody sign it. It turned out really good and even has John right on the sweet spot. It might be just a signed team ball from an American Association team, but, with the mixture of Eastern and Western signatures, it is probably the coolest looking signed ball you will ever see.

As for John, he got to manage 159 Major League games. He took over the Mariners gig after Mike Hargrove abruptly resigned midway through the 2007 season. The M's went 43-41 under John and finished the season 88-74. He was brought back in 2008 and was 25-47 before being fired. He then got to manage three games with the Nationals in 2011 as their interim manager and was 2-1. For his 159 games, John had a record of 70-89.

2008 Goudey, Sparky Anderson

#46 Sparky Anderson

Here is the second card in the set that is a repeat post of a Hall of Famer. I first posted a card of Sparky over nine years ago and it can be seen here. That card was, of course, his '81 Donruss card. I am so glad that I got that card signed for my set. I am even more glad that I mailed it to him when I did; he passed away eight months later.

This one was obtained through the mail in 2008, two years before the '81D. But, the '81D sports a slightly better looking signature. I could just be thinking that because that one is signed in blue, though.

The Big Red Machine was before my time. Whenever I think of Sparky Anderson, I always picture him in a Tigers uniform. So, when this card came out with him as a Red, I knew I had to get it signed. The Big Red Machine might have preceded me, but I still know of their accolades and know that Sparky was at the helm.

Sparky managed in the Majors for a whopping twenty-six years, nine with the Reds and the rest with Detroit. Over that time, he had a .545 winning percentage while going to the postseason five times and winning it all three times. He was twice named manager of the year and got inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

2005 Topps, Al Pedrique

#268 Al Pedrique

Here is a card that I got signed at a Spring Training game earlier this year. Al was the first base coach for the A's and they were the away team at the Angels Tempe Diablo Stadium. Prior to entering the park, my plan was to 'graph the Angels side and send my oldest boy over to grab some A's for me. Once I got inside, though, my plans changed. The Angles side was lined with people from dugout to foul pole while there wasn't a soul on the visiting side. So, I took the A's side and my kid took the day off and it worked out great. I think I got nearly twenty cards signed that day, along with a Marcus Semien batting glove.

Al managed in the Major Leagues for half a season. The Diamondbacks finished with a winning record in 2003, but they were a disaster come 2004. They started off the year 29-50 before Bob Brenly, the manager of their lone World Championship team, got the ax. Al took over and did just a bit worse than Bob did. He finished the year with a 22-61 record. The D-backs finished the year 51-111. So far, that is the only season that the D-Backs have lost 100 or more games.

Al was replaced with Bob Melvin the following year and has never been given another chance to manage a Major League team. But, he seemed to do alright in his first season as the A's first base coach as they grabbed a Wild Card spot this year.

2004 Topps, Ron Gardenhire

#283 Ron Gardenhire

Here is a card of Ron Gardenhire that I got signed at a Royals game last year. Ron was the bench coach for the Diamondbacks at the time and he seemed a little shocked that I asked for his autograph. He asked me why I wanted his autograph and assumed it was because I couldn't get Paul Goldschmidt to come over. I told him it was because I don't get to see him anymore since he doesn't lead the Twins to town a dozen times a year to whoop up on the Royals. He just chuckled and signed the three cards I had of him.

After the season, he got the Tigers managerial job and gets to come back to Kansas City a dozen times a year. Luckily, though, his new team currently lacks the talent that he had in Minnestoa a decade ago.

Ron managed the Twins for thirteen seasons and was 1068-1039. During that time, he lead the Twins to a AL Central crown six times. Unfortunately, they never fared well in the postseason, going 6-21 while winning just one series. That series was Gardenhire's first trip to the postseason in his first year of managing, 2002, when his team beat the A's in five games.

2003 Lancaster Jethawks Grandstand, Mike Aldrete

#25 Mike Aldrete

It took me two tries, but I finally got this card signed at Spring Training this year. I took it with me last year and I finally got Mike's attention right before the National Anthem. He was rushed and only signed two cards before tripping over the stairs to hit the field for the anthem. This was the one card he did not sign. But, I caught the A's in action this spring and I got Mike's attention with plenty of time to spare. He ended up signing this card and two more for me this go around.

I bought this team set ten years ago when I went to a Lancaster Jethawks game. They were having a clearance sale in the team store and I picked up three random team sets for cheap. Up to this point, I have only had one card from each set signed. But with this card, I now have two signed from the 2003 set. Lance Cormier is the other card from the set that I got signed.

Mike only managed the Jethawks for one season and the team did well under his leadership. They went 73-67. Despite the winning record, the team finished fourth in the five team California League South Division. They were two games out of second place and a trip to the postseason. That was the last time Mike managed a team.

1993 Topps, Gene Lamont

#504 Gene Lamont

Here is the second card that Gene Lamont signed for me at a Royals game in 2016. Gene was a coach for the Tigers at the time and he stopped for me outside of the ballpark to sign my two cards. I posted the first card back in November and that one can be seen here.

Gene managed in the Majors for parts of eight seasons with the White Sox and Pirates. Over that time, his clubs went 553-562. That record is better than I thought it would be considering that he managed in Pittsburgh in the late '90s.

Gene's 1993 White Sox team won the AL West with a 92-70 record before losing the ALCS to the Blue Jays in six games. The Sox had a good team the following year, too. But the strike ruined any hope of a chance at a championship. The team then came out flat in the 1995 season and Gene was replaced after an 11-20 start. Gene finished his tenure in Chicago with a 258-210 record.

Gene is no longer with the Tigers organization. He was a holdover from the Jim Leyland days. But, he was ousted with Brad Ausmus after this last season. He is now working with the Royals as a Senior Adviser to the GM.

Sadly, Don Baylor passed away before I got around a finishing this card off.

1991 Line Drive AAA, Charlie Manuel

#99 Charlie Manuel

Here is another random card that was given to me by Rod, from Padrographs. This sucker is a little bent out of shape. But, it is an autograph from a World Series winning manager, so I don't really care.

Did you know that Charlie Manuel managed the Indians for parts of three seasons? I'm not sure what I was doing those three years, but I do not remember that at all. He is ingrained as a Phillie in my mind and that is all I can picture him as.

But, before managing in the Majors for twelve seasons and making the playoffs six times, Charlie spent six seasons managing AAA ball with four different clubs. Over those six seasons, his teams made the playoffs twice.

Before becoming a manager, Cornbread Charlie played in the Majors for parts of six seasons with the Twins and Dodgers. During that time, he hit .198 with 4 home runs and 43 RBI.

With this card, I have autographs from the manager and two coaches of the Sky Sox in this set. Jim Gabella and Rick Adair were the coaches and you can see their dual signed card here.

1987 Procards, Jerry Terrell

#2248 Jerry Terrell

This is the second card of Jerry Terrell that I was able to get signed at Royals Fanfest last year. I posted the first one about nine months ago and that one can be seen here. My dad actually got that card signed for me while Jerry was doing some instructing by the wiffleball field. I got this one signed later on that day when Jerry appeared at an autograph table.

That was my first encounter with Jerry and he was a super-friendly individual. Even though most people that had a card of him had one from his playing days, he seemed to reminiscence a little more when he saw this card. I guess that could be because there are not too many minor league cards of him out there.

1987 was Jerry's first season as a minor league manager and it did not go so well. His Royals finished the season 54-87, 30.5 games back of the St. Petersburg Cardinals. The Kansas City Royals left Ft. Myers for Baseball City for Spring Training in 1988 and did not put a Florida State team back in Ft. Myers. I am not sure where they moved their affiliate, but I do know that they did not take Jerry with them. He would not manage a minor league team again until 1999.

I have had this team set for over twenty years and this is just the third card that I have been able to get signed. Still, it is always fun when I am able to add another sig to the set.

1981 Donruss, Dick Williams

#453 Dick Williams

This is actually the second card of Dick Williams that I have posted on here. I posted the first one in 2008. It was a cool '84 Fleer checklist card that Rod, from Padrograhs, gave me. Less than three years after that post, Dick passed away. But, I was still able to add him to my Donruss set thanks to my wife stepping up her game this past Christmas. This is the third card, out of four, that she bought me to help me out with the project. All four cards were of deceased players.

Dick managed in the Majors for 21 years. He was a constant presence with some team every year from 1967 to 1988, with the exception of 1970. Over that span, he managed the Red Sox, A's, Angels, Expos, Padres, and Mariners. He took the Sox, A's, and Padres to the World Series and won in twice with the A's in the early '70s.

One of the best seasons he had was with the Expos in 1979. That club finished 95-65. Those 95 wins were the second most victories he had in a single season. Unfortunately, the Expos came up two games short to the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dick finished his managerial career with a 1571-1451 record. He won manager of the year three times and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #215

1981 Donruss, Dallas Green

#415 Dallas Green

I know it is hard to tell, but this card really is signed. While I am not a huge fan of ballpoint pen signatures, they usually turn out OK on the thin '81D card stock. That was not the case with this card. I'm not sure what kind of pen was used, but that thing had seen better days.

Dallas managed in the Majors for parts of eight seasons. The Phillies were his first gig and he had the most success with them. He took the team to the playoffs in each of the two seasons he started the season out at the helm and won it all in 1980. He then became the Cubs general manager for a bit before going on to manage the Yankees for less than a season and then the Mets for about four seasons. He ended his managerial career with a record of 478-487.

Sadly, Dallas passed away last month from kidney failure. He was 82.

This card was signed through the mail in 2014.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #213

1981 Donruss, Chuck Tanner

#257 Chuck Tanner

Here is the second of four '81 Donruss cards that my wife bought for me for Christmas this past year. This one features long time manager, Chuck Tanner, who passed away in 2011.

Chuck had played in the Major Leagues for parts of eight seasons with the Braves, Cubs, Indians, and Angels. He appeared in just 396 games over that time and hit .261 with 21 home runs.

Chuck got into managing after his playing career and managed four different clubs over nineteen consecutive seasons. He lead the White Sox, A's, Pirates, and Braves. Over those nineteen seasons, his clubs had five second place finishes and his 1979 Pirates team won it all. For his career, his clubs posted a 1352 and 1381 record. He won American League Manager of the Year with the White Sox in 1972.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #196

1960 Topps, Solly Hemus

#218 Solly Hemus

Here is the next card from the '60 Topps set, a managers card of Solly Hemus. I sent this card to Solly on the last day of 2012 and I had it back about two months later.

Solly had an eleven year playing career with the Cardinals and Philiies. He started out with the Cards before joining Philly for the second half of his career. Then, he rejoined the Cardinals in 1959 as their player/manager. That gig ran through June before he quit playing and was just a manager.

Solly was at the helm of the Cardinals for less than three seasons. The club finished the '59 season in seventh place with a 71-83 record. They turned it around a bit the next year with a 86-68 record, but it was only good enough for a third place finish. Then, in '61, the team was 33-41 when Solly got the ax. Johnny Keane took over and he had them in the World Series three years later.

Solly would never manage a Major League team again.

I love the layout of the mangers cards from this set. Though it is odd to have the cards so different from the rest of the cards in the set, they still came out looking good. I kind of wish that Topps had made an entire set based off of this design.

2007 Topps, Ned Yost

#617 Ned Yost

Here is a quick pre-Thanksgiving post of the manager of the 2015 World Series Champions, Kansas City Royals. This is the first card of a member of the team that I have posted since they won it all last month. My wife got this card signed by Ned prior to a Spring Training game in 2013. I have only been to two Royals Spring Training games, but Ned signed for a ton of fans at both games.

I believe that this is the fifth card of Ned that I have posted on here. I posted three cards of him as a player and then posted a manager card of him this past spring. When I posted that card, I commented that I did not realize at the time that I was getting that card signed by the manager of the next American League champs. I am still floored that they won the Series this year. Ned has always baffled me with the way he has used his bullpen, but he finally figured out the HDH scenario last year, Herrera to Davis to Holland. That formula faltered this year when Holland struggled and eventually needed Tommy John surgery. But Ned pieced it together and, while it wasn't as steadfast as HDH, he was able to make it work. It helped a bunch that he had Wade Davis in his pen kill any potential rallies.

On the last card of Ned I posted, I talked about his managerial career in Milwaukee. Even though he is still a Brewer on this card, I am going to talk about his tenure with the Royals. And all I have to say about that is that Ned is the club's winningest manager. His 468 wins tops Whitey Herzog by 58. I still cannot believe that fact. I know Ned has a couple of seasons on Whitey and a losing record (which should not be that way after next year), but I still have a hard time coming to grips with him being the franchise leader. That could be because I have been a Royals fan since 2000 and they have pretty much sucked that entire time until lately. Success has been for me to adjust to, apparently.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

2007 Topps, Sam Perlozzo

#608 Sam Perlozzo

Here is the second of two cards that Sam Perlozzo signed for me outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2008. Sam was the third base coach for the Mariners at the time and he signed for me after arriving at the ballpark with three other members of the coaching staff. I posted the first card that he signed in 2012 and that one can be seen here.

Sam managed the O's for parts of three seasons. He got the job in 2005 after replacing Lee Mazzilli. Sam lead the club to a 23-32 record down the stretch and they finished 74-88. 2006 was his only full season as a Major League manager and the team went 70-92 that season, finishing fourth in the AL East. In 2007, the Orioles started out 29-40 before Sam got the ax. He was replaced by Dave Trembley who went 40-53 over the remainder of the season.

Sam was the Mariners third base coach for just the 2008 season. He moved on to the Phillies in 2009 and worked as a base coach for them before being dismissed after the 2012 season.

I think it is strange that the manager cards from 2007 Topps lack that facsimile signature that all of the rest of the cards from the set have. Topps did the same thing in 2008, as well. I have no idea why that it the case, but they sure do work better for autographs without it on there. Luckily, Topps has not done that since the 2008 set.

2007 Multi Ad Sports, Omaha Royals

#4 Brian Bannister
#14 Shane Costa
#20 Mike Jirschele
#26 Neal Musser

At Royals Fanfest in 2009, the Omaha Royals had a booth set up. They had a bunch of freebies sitting on their table, including random cards from this 2007 team set. Neal Musser and Shane Costa were both at Fanfest that year and, since I only had one card of each, I made sure to grab their cards. I also grabbed the Bannister and the Jirschele. I am not really sure why I grabbed the Jirschele. It was probably because he was the AAA manager and he usually gets called up to the big leagues after the AAA season is over. Either way, I grabbed four cards and I was able to get all four signed in 2009. I got Costa and Musser at Fanfest, Bannister at the Royals Caravan, and Jirschele after an O-Royals game in Des Moines.

I really like this set. Though the photography needs some help to make it look less "foggy", the layout is really good. I love the way the bat is used for the name, position, and team. The fact that it is a black bat makes it even better. Multi Ad did a good job with adding the gold ring on the bat that matches the font color.

Out of all of these guys, Jirschele is the only one that is still in baseball. Musser and Bannister have not pitched since 2010 and Costa last played in 2012. Jirschele is currently the third base coach for the Royals.

This is the last card of Shane Costa that I have to post on here. You can see his first one here and the second one here. There will be one more Neal Musser, a couple more Mike Jirscheles, and quite a few more Bannisters.

2007 Allen & Ginter, Augie Garrido

#302 Augie Garrido

FINALLY!! Here is the first card that I have to post from 2007. I was beginning to think that I would never make it here.

This is a card that I got signed at a Kansas State baseball game in 2010. Augie is the long-time coach of the Texas Longhorns. It was an interesting experience getting this card signed as Augie would not sign before the game. Then, the game ended on a bang-bang play at first, killing the Longhorns rally. Augie went out to argue, but to no avail, and the game was over. So, he obviously wasn't in a very good mood after that, but he went and did his interview with the Texas media on-field. He was right in front of the dugout, so I went down there to wait and try to get my cards signed. While I was just standing there, the K-State security guard by the gate opened the gate up and let me on the field. It was a little awkward, but Augie just grabbed my book and signed my three cards while he was doing his interview.

That was the only time I have ever been on the actual playing field to get a card signed. I wish I could do that more often as it would make it a whole lot easier for me.

Augie has been the head coach at Texas since 1997. In that time, he has lead the team to eight College World Series appearances and they won it all twice. Prior to that, he lead Cal State Fullerton to three CWS championships. He was been named National Coach of the Year five times and he has the most wins by any college baseball coach at any level.