Cary Hiles on baseball cards

Cary Hiles pitched in the Phillies organization from 1998 to 2004. His best season was 2000, when he went 8-3 with 20 saves and a 3.16 ERA for Clearwater. Overall in 255 minor league games, he went 23-22 with 75 saves and a 3.80 ERA. Now AVP, Environmental & Hazmat Safety for the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I wouldn’t necessarily call them “stories,” but you might notice that my 2002 and 2003 cards use the same photo. I broke camp with the Triple-A team both seasons, but I tore my shoulder early in 2003. Since the card company didn’t have any new shots of me after the injury, they reused the previous year’s picture. I did make a brief return in 2004 before re-injuring my shoulder post-surgery, and no card was produced for that year.

  

 

My favorite card, strictly for the look, is my 1999 Piedmont Boll Weevils card. It definitely has a “summer ball” vibe, but I’ve always liked the design. 

 

A close second is my 2002 Scranton Red Barons card—it shows how flexible I used to be.

I don’t collect baseball cards anymore, but a few years back I got into European soccer cards for a bit before eventually stepping away from that."

Thanks!