Here’s
a “not so” missing 1974 card for a guy who’d go on to play 14 seasons
in the Major Leagues, former catcher Marc Hill, who was getting his big
league start with the St. Louis Cardinals:
Hill appeared in one game for the Cardinals in 1973, at the end of the
season, going 0-3 while catching a full game, something he would end up
doing until May of 1986.
Generally a back-up catcher his entire career, Hill would play for four
teams, with all but three seasons split evenly between the San Francisco
Giants and Chicago White Sox.
He’d play in 737 games, batting .223 with 404 hits over 1809 at-bats,
while also playing a handful of games at first and third base over his
time on a big league field.
Until I was putting this together, I never realized that his rookie card
in the 1975, shared with three others including a young Expos stud
named Gary Carter, was an airbrush job by Topps, as he appeared in 10
games with St. Louis the previous season before finding himself on the
West Coast for the ‘75 campaign.
I’ve also read that among the hardest card in the 1970’s to find in true
“mint” condition is his 1979 card, which is notorious for being
off-center. Don’t know how true this is, but considering I’ve seen this
stated in more than one place, I suppose it is.