Marc Hill

{{About|the baseball catcher|the academic|Marc Lamont Hill|other people with a similar name|Mark Hill (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|image = Marc Hill Giants.jpg

|name = Marc Hill

|position = Catcher

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|2|18}}

|birth_place = Elsberry, Missouri, U.S.

|bats = Right

|throws = Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate = September 28

|debutyear = 1973

|debutteam = St. Louis Cardinals

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate = May 25

|finalyear = 1986

|finalteam = Chicago White Sox

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label = Batting average

|stat1value = .223

|stat2label = Home runs

|stat2value = 34

|stat3label = Runs batted in

|stat3value = 198

|teams =

St. Louis Cardinals ({{Baseball year|1973}}–{{Baseball year|1974}})
San Francisco Giants ({{Baseball year|1975}}–{{Baseball year|1980}})
Seattle Mariners ({{Baseball year|1980}})
Chicago White Sox ({{Baseball year|1981}}–{{Baseball year|1986}})

| highlights =

}}

Marc Kevin Hill (born February 18, 1952), nicknamed "the Booter", is an American former Major League Baseball catcher.

St. Louis Cardinals

Hill was drafted straight out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. He batted .244 with 21 home runs & 159 runs batted in over four seasons in their farm system to earn a September call up to the majors in {{mlby|1973}}. He appeared in one game, and went 0-for-3, grounding into a double play in his first at bat.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197309280.shtml|title=St. Louis Cardinals 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0|website=Baseball-Reference.com|location=Busch Memorial Stadium|date=September 28, 1973}}

Hill split the {{mlby|1974}} season between the Cardinals & triple A Tulsa Oilers. His 14 home runs for Tulsa tied for team lead. Toward the end of the season, the Cardinals sold Tim McCarver's contract to the Boston Red Sox,{{Cite web|url=https://retrosimba.com/2014/08/27/leaving-the-cardinals-was-twice-as-hard-for-tim-mccarver/|title=Leaving the Cardinals was twice as hard for Tim McCarver|publisher=Retro Simba|date=August 27, 2014}} opening a job for Hill as Ted Simmons' back up for the remainder of the season. After which, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Ken Rudolph & Elías Sosa.{{Cite web|url=https://baseballhall.org/discover/CardCorner-1975-Topps-Elias-Sosa|last=Muder|first=Craig|title=#CardCorner: 1975 Topps Elias Sosa|publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum}}

San Francisco Giants

Hill platooned with Dave Rader behind the plate for two seasons with the Giants. He hit his first major league home run off the Atlanta Braves' Carl Morton on April 12, {{mlby|1975}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197504120.shtml|title=Atlanta Braves 7, San Francisco Giants 4|website=Baseball-Reference.com|location=Candlestick Park|date=April 12, 1975}} Following the {{mlby|1976}} season, Rader was traded to the Cardinals, leaving the starting job solely in Hill's hands. He responded with a career year in {{mlby|1977}}, batting .250 with nine home runs & 50 RBIs, all career highs.

He held the starting job until a broken wrist cut short his {{mlby|1979}} season.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/26/archives/mets-top-giants-30-on-6hitter-by-swan-lone-dependable-starter.html|title=Mets Top Giants, 3‐0, On 6‐Hitter by Swan|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 26, 1979}} Partway through the {{mlby|1980}} season, his contract was sold to the Seattle Mariners.

Chicago White Sox

Hill saw little playing time with the M's. Following just a half season in Seattle, Hill joined the Chicago White Sox as a Spring training invitee, and ended up signing as a free agent with them.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/02/sports/transactions-205210.html|title=Transactions|newspaper=New York Times|date=February 2, 1983}}

Hill would spend six seasons in Chicago serving as Carlton Fisk's back up. He scored from second base on a sacrifice fly on May 15, {{mlby|1983}} against the New York Yankees,{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198305150.shtml|title=Chicago White Sox 7, New York Yankees 3|website=Baseball-Reference.com|location=Yankee Stadium (1923)|date=May 15, 1983}} and batted .226 with one home run & 11 RBIs for the 1983 team that won the American League West. He did not appear in the 1983 American League Championship Series.

He received the most playing time of his tenure with the ChiSox in 1984, as Fisk battled injuries all season.{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/14/Chicago-White-Sox-catcher-Carlton-Fisk-has-been-placed/5247456033600/|title=Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk has been placed on the 15-day disabled list|publisher=United Press International|date=June 14, 1984}} His 20 RBIs were his most since {{mlby|1978}}.

Career stats

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

!Games

!PA

!AB

!2B

!3B

!HR

!RBI

!SB

!BB

!SO

!Avg.

!OBP

!SLG

!OPS

!Fld%

!CS

737

|2047

|1809

|146

|404

|62

|34

|198

|185

|243

|.223

|.295

|.317

|.612

|.990

|35%

Hill's only career stolen base came on May 2, 1978.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197805020.shtml|title=St. Louis Cardinals 9, San Francisco Giants 0|website=Baseball-Reference.com|location=Busch Stadium|date=May 2, 1978}} Tom Seaver lived with Hill part time after joining the White Sox in {{mlby|1984}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/mlb/whitesox/history/tom-seaver-in-memoriam|last=Liptak|first=Mark|date=September 3, 2020|title=Tom Seaver: In Memoriam|magazine=Sports Illustrated}}

Minor league manager

Once his playing days ended, Hill took a job managing the class A Florida State League Daytona Beach Admirals in {{by|1987}}, their only year of existence.{{Cite web|url=https://funwhileitlasted.net/2020/12/20/1987-daytona-beach-admirals/|title=Daytona Beach Admirals|publisher=Fun While It Lasted}} In {{by|1992}}, he joined the Seattle Mariners organization as manager of the Peninsula Pilots, who also folded at the end of the season. In their final season, Hill managed Peninsula to a 74-64 record & the Carolina League championship.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2015/3/1/8129775/a-brief-history-of-the-peninsula-pilots|last=Varela|first=Ashley|date=March 1, 2015|title=A brief history of the Peninsula Pilots|website=SB Nation|publisher=Vox Media, LLC}} He spent the next two seasons in the Mariners organization managing the Jacksonville Suns. From there, he moved over to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, managing the Lynchburg Hillcats for a season, and the Carolina Mudcats for two.