After releasing to not much fanfare in 2023, the movie The Hill has become a hit on Netflix after landing on the streaming service in late January (it is the No. 1 trending movie on Netflix as of January 24). A big reason for that is the movie's inspiring story of a young man who suffers from a degenerative spinal injury but strives to overcome it to realize his dream of playing professional baseball. But is The Hill based on a true story?
Short answer, yes. The Hill's story is based on the life of Rickey Hill and his efforts to overcome the physical challenges his disease presents while contending with his father's wishes to avoid further injuring himself and take on a career in the church. That story was brought to the screen by The Hill cast, featuring Dennis Quaid and Colin Ford, and director Jeff Celentano.
Whether or not you have watched The Hill, we've done some research to provide you with some more info on the real-life Rickey Hill.
Did Rickey Hill play pro baseball?
Most of the challenges presented in Rickey's way in The Hill are accurate. He was born with a degenerative spine disorder that required him to have braces on his legs as a child and grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet, with his father serving as a Baptist preacher. But as the movie depicts, Hill overcame all of that and got his shot to play professional baseball.
Hill was signed by the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) in 1975 and played his first season of minor league baseball with their affiliate team, the Lethbridge Expos in the Pioneer League. Hill would be released by the Expos after that first season, but he continued playing on a different team and in a different league over the next three years; the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings of the Gulf States League in 1976, the Texas City Stars of the Lone Star League in 1977 and the Grays Harbor Loggers of the Northwest League in 1978. Unfortunately, Rickey was never called up to Major League Baseball and retired after the 1978 season when, as The Athletic described in an interview with Hill, "his body gave out."
Through four seasons in the minors, Hill's career stats across his four seasons saw him play in 201 games, get 205 hits for a .298 batting average, 26 home runs and 116 RBIs.
He had one other career highlight worth mentioning, as the Grays Harbor Loggers were the champions of their league in 1978. That led to another interesting story involving Hill. As Fox Sports reported in 2023, he finally received his championship ring from that team after 37 years.
Life post-baseball was not always easy for Hill, who in the Fox Sports article mentioned that he contemplated suicide following the end of his career. However, he kept baseball in his life by helping to coach little league baseball, as well as sharing his story and becoming a wellness advocate, per his official website.
You can watch The Hill right now on Netflix. If you don't have a Netflix plan, the movie is also available to rent via digital on-demand.
