Ken Hill Autographed Card

Ken Hill was a fairly good pitcher for half his career. He won 16 games three different times, going 16-9 in 1992 and 16-5 in 1994 for the Montréal Expos, and 16-10 in 1996 with the Texas Rangers.

1994 was arguably his best season, as he finished second in Cy Young voting, and 12th for the National League MVP title, with a two-inning All-Star Game appearance. He also played in the post-season twice, reaching the World Series in 1995 with the Cleveland Indians, and losing in the first round with the Rangers in '96.

His two stints with the St. Louis Cardinals didn't pan out (they happened before and after his run with the Expos), and neither did his time with the Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays to close out his career. Yet, despite bad seasons with 4 teams, he finished his career with a 117-109 record with a 409 ERA.

He signed this card for me in blue sharpie before a game in 1994:

It's from Topps' 1993 Topps set (card #495), and show him sporting the grey uniform with the blue (away) top - they also had an all-grey uniform in the 1990s that felt more ''classic''.

Back then, I'd purchase every Expos team set at the team's store in the Olympic Stadium; at first, they just made the Topps ones available, but over time they had every brand's. It was easier to get them signed that way, although because of financial reasons, half of the previous year's team (featured in the sets...) were usually gone by the time the new one was under way.