[beatles guy]

Last night at a high school basketball game, our town celebrated the career of the only player to make it to the majors from here - Marc Hill. I've collected and known about Mark since I was a kid. My grandmother used to babysit him and when she passed away, she had his '83 Topps card amongst her possessions. After the ceremony he displayed some of his game used stuff; his bat, Cardinal hat, etc. I was able to approach him with my son and get a couple of autographs. We talked about my family and other former local ball players like Ron Hunt and the fact that he still gets 10,000 autograph requests a year by mail. The funny thing is that he lives here, and I know I've seen him around town but I never knew who he was.

He was drafted by the Cardinals in 1970. His first card is in 1975 Topps and he shares that card with some guy named Gary Carter He also played for the Giants, Mariners, and White Sox. He went on to coach for the Astros and the Yankees. He was also a minor league manager. During his career, he caught the likes of Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, and Steve Carlton. According to him he also threw out Lou Brock stealing several times.

[jtraven42]

That's a pretty cool story!

[muz0]

That is awesome! I just picked up that rookie card of carter and 3 other catchers and outfielders as well.

[beginesj]

That's a great story. It sounds like he's a down to earth guy.

[bigt314]

Neat story. Thanks for sharing.

[jimfalbo21]

Neat story. Thanks for sharing.

+1

[ryancholden]

10,000 requests by mail per year. Holy buckets!

[chiefsncards275]

10,000 requests by mail per year. Holy buckets!

just imagine what players like pujols and the BIG name guys get

[shaunbaus]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.

[frostycollects]

That's a great story. The only celeb from my HS (Dearborn High) was George Peppard. Derek Lowe graduated from my sister's HS (Edsel Ford). Maybe I'll get to meet Derek one day....who knows?