As much as anything else, he was the first Mark I was aware of who spelled his name with a c.
A native of Elsberry, Missouri, Hill was drafted out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th round of the 1970 MLB draft. Hill would have cups of coffee with the Cardinals in 1973 and 1974 before he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Elias Sosa and catcher Ken Rudolph.
With the Giants, Hill earned more playing time and would earn the nickname "Booter" from teammate and future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. By 1977, Hill had become the team's number one catcher and would enjoy his best season hitting .250 with 9 HR and 50 RBI. Hill was the Giants' primary catcher until a season ending shoulder injury during the middle of the 1979 season.
By 1980, veteran Milt May was the Giants' primary catcher, and the team would ship Hill to the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, Hill would get little playing time in Seattle.
Prior to the 1981 season, Hill would sign with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent. However, a month later the Chisox would obtain the services of future Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. Despite limiting his playing time, Hill made the most of his situation spending the final six seasons of his big-league career as Fisk's backup catcher. Hill was part of the 1983 White Sox which dominated the AL West.
In 737 career games over 14 MLB seasons, Hill collected 404 hits for a lifetime batting average of .223 with 34 HR and 198 RBI.
Following his playing career, Hill spent time as a coach at the major league level with both the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees and would later manage at the minor league level with the Seattle Mariners and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But Hill's heart was with the Chicago White Sox. In a 2011 interview, Hill would call his six seasons with the Chisox "the best six years he had in the big leagues."
We should all be so lucky. R.I.P.
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