Gary Koenig played 2 seasons, later turned high school coach

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Gary Koenig 1990 Baseball City Royals card

Palisades High School coach Gary Koenig needed a starter in this April 2014 game after injuries, so he turned to his senior Colton Smith, Lehigh Valley Live wrote.

Smith proceeded to throw his first-ever complete game in the win, the site wrote.

"We talked and I told him to take us as far as he could," Koenig told Lehigh Valley Live. "Once we got to the fifth or sixth inning, he wanted the complete game."

Years earlier, Koenig had played himself. His attempt to go as far as he could go there took him to two seasons. He made high-A.

Koenig's career began in 1989, signed by the Royals as an undrafted free agent out of Temple University.

Koenig started with the Royals in the rookie Gulf Coast League and at single-A Baseball City. He saw 23 games overall and hit .229.

For 1990, he returned to Baseball City at high-A. He picked up two RBI in a May win. He saw 89 games overall there and hit .229. That season proved his last as a pro.

Koenig later turned a youth coach, and, in 2011, took his first head coaching job at Palisades High School in Pennsylvania. He continues as Palisades coach in 2024.

Gary Koenig 1990 Baseball City Royals card


1990 Minor League Tally 
Players/Coaches Featured:4,301
Made the Majors:1,393-32.4%
Never Made Majors:2,908-67.6%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:567
10+ Seasons in the Minors:349

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