1993 Upper Deck, Doug Henry

#395 Doug Henry

Here is another card of Doug Henry, the Royals former bullpen coach. In my last post about Doug, and probably all the posts about Doug, I talked about how he was my go-to guy if I was striking out on autographs at the ballpark. I knew I could always head down to the Royals bullpen and grab one from him so that I didn't go home empty handed. That was the case this past August when I took the family to St. Louis to see the Royals play.

I have been to a handful of Royals/Cardinals games in Kansas City and, to be honest, I never really cared for them because there were always too many Cardinal fans for my liking. But, I have always wanted to make the trip to St. Louis to see how the match-up was on the other side of the state. To my amazement, it was much better than taking in the game in Kansas City.

Royals/Cards games in Kansas City bring out the loud, obnoxious, super annoying Cardinal fans that nobody wants to be around. I have been to a Cubs/Cardinals game in Chicago and it was the same story there. But the Royals/Cards game in St. Louis was a whole new ballgame as it was just your normal, casual fans. We were all rocking our Royals gear all day long, from a riverboat ride, to the arch, to a local brewery, and throughout the game. Not once did we hear any of the usual crap we normally hear in Kansas City. They say Cardinal fans are some of the best in the game and they just might be right, when in St. Louis.

As for 'graphing the game, it was a stinker. The only Royal that stopped after batting practice to sign was Brandon Moss and he only signed a few and not for me. I went out to the outfield a little later and tried to get Cardinals bullpen coach, Blaise Ilsley, to sign for me. He turned me down, so I turned to old faithful, Doug Henry.

1993 Upper Deck, Tom Candiotti

#98 Tom Candiotti

Here is the second card that Tom Candiotti signed for me in Kansas City this past season. Tom is a broadcaster for Diamondback games on the radio and he stopped to sign for me after hopping off the team bus. I posted the first card last month and it can be seen here. I have one more card of Tom to post, but, since it is an older card, it will be years before it makes its way on here.

Tom pitched for the Dodgers for six seasons. Over that time, he racked up a 52-64 record with a 3.57 ERA and 718 strikeouts. He pitched in one postseason game for them, a 1996 divisional series match-up. He came into game three against the Braves, trailing 5-0. He pitched two perfect frames before being lifted for a pinch hitter. The Dodgers lost the game as the Braves completed the sweep.

If I had to guess, I might bet that this photo was taken July 7th, 1992. On that day, Tom pitched a complete game shutout against the Reds as the Dodgers won the game 1-0. He allowed just three hits and struck out five.

1993 Topps, Ed Pierce

#803 Ed Pierce

Since the conclusion of the 2017 regular season, I have really hit up the TTM autograph scene. I just counted how many cards I have got back since then and was a little amazed- 82 signed cards in about five months. There have been three main focuses for me when sending out cards. I have been adding signed '81 Donruss, former Royals, and Senior League cards to the collection, as well as some occasional vintage. This is one of those returns and it obviously falls into the former Royal category.

Ed made just two Major League appearances in his career and he did good enough to earn this "Coming Attraction" card from Topps. He made one start and had one relief appearance during his 1992 September call up with the Royals. In his start, he pitched four innings and gave up two run on eight hits with three strikeouts. He then pitched an inning and a third six days later and allowed no runs on one hit. And that was that for Ed. His career numbers are 5.1 innings with no record and a 3.38 ERA. He went on to pitch three more seasons in the minors before calling it a career.

I sent this card to Ed in early December and I had it back eleven days later.

If you want to see some of the recent TTM successes that I have got back, check me out on Twitter- @zmills40

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.

1993 Topps, Doug Henry

#343 Doug Henry

To my amazement, this is only the fourth card of Doug Henry that I have posted on here. Doug has been the bullpen coach for the Royals the last five seasons and he was always my go-to on a bad 'graphing day. Any time I struck out getting autographs from players, I always knew that I could venture down to the Royals bullpen and grab one from Doug. That was how I got this one signed at a game in 2014.

Unfortunately, the Royals did some shaking up with their coaching staffs and Doug has been demoted. Despite being with the big league club for five seasons and being the AAA pitching coach before that, Doug has dropped down to the pitching coach for the high-A Wilmington Blue Rocks. Taking Doug's spot in Kansas City is Vance Wilson.

I have no idea if Vance will be as accommodating as Doug was at the ballpark. But, if he is, I need to find some cards of him. I have one card of him and I got it signed at Spring Training in 2013 when he was the manager for the Royals AA team.

If anybody has any extra cards of Vance that they would like to trade, hit me up. He seems to have a decent amount of Mets cards from 2002-2004 and they must be a hot commodity right now. For whatever reason, COMC has one card of Vance for under a buck while all the rest are in the two to three dollar range. Or, you can even buy his base 2003 Topps card for $20.25. What is up with that?

1993 Stadium Club, Freddie Benavides

#456 Freddie Benavides

Here is a card that I got signed at Spring Training last season at the Reds game I attended. Freddie is the first base coach for the Reds and he signed for me by the Reds dugout. This was the only card that he signed.

Freddie spent parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Reds, Rockies, and Expos. Over that time, he was a .253 hitter with 4 home runs and 52 RBI while playing all four infield positions.

Freddie had his best season playing for the expansion Rockies in 1993. He played in 74 games that year and had career highs in average (.276), home runs (3), and RBI (26). He took the field as the starting shortstop in the Rockies first game and, like most of his teammates that day against Doc Gooden, went hitless in three at-bats.

1993 Select, Dan Gladden

#244 Dan Gladden

Here is a card of Dan Gladden that I got signed at a Royals game last season. The Twins were in town and Dan is a broadcaster for the team. I noticed him on the field during batting practice and I got him to come over and sign for me right before he left the field.

That was the second time that I got Dan to sign for me. I got him at The Ballpark in Arlington (or whatever it was called at the time) in 2009 and that card can be seen here. When I got that card signed, I gave Dan my book with three cards of him and he just signed the one. This time, eight years later, I gave him my book with two cards to sign. Those two cards were the same two cards that he didn't sign in Texas. The next time I see Dan, I am sure I will just have his '86 Topps card to sign, the one he didn't sign the other two times.

Dan spent his last two seasons with Detroit. In 1993, his final season in the Majors, he had a good year. Though he played in just 91 games, he still hit .267 and had a single season best of 13 home runs. His 56 RBI were the second most that he ever had in a season.

Dan would play the 1994 season in Japan before calling it a career.