For the past seven years many folks on this site and our associated Facebook Page ( Phillies - A Fan’s View ) have enjoyed the terrific photography of our buddy Mark Wylie. Thousands of player and coaches photos from the backfields of Carpenter Complex to inside the stadium and even at other venues when the Phillies teams played on the road have been taken by Mark and it’s been our privilege to share them on our public forums and various email chains.
Mark and his lovely wife Hiro are moving to North Carolina at the end of this month which will bring to an end our partnership in covering Phillies play in the Clearwater and surrounding areas. Mark has shown extraordinary dedication to our shared hobby of covering the Phillies minor leagues. The players quickly learned who he was and many have reached out to him for photos which he furnished free of charge. His drive to the complex was more than an hour yet whenever a player requested photos he always found time to come over and take shots. Many times he would drive even further to away games to accommodate requests.
Mark’s photos are truly from a fan’s view - he’s been a lifelong baseball fan and is a student of the game. Over the years we’ve made numerous requests for media access for him to be able to get better camera angles at the complex but unfortunately were never approved. That didn’t deter his efforts, he took excellent photos thru the fence screens and worked tirelessly to edit the screen out - you could never tell that his photographs came from the stands and approved fan zones of the complex.
During the “Covid Era” the three amigos ( Mark, Jim Peyton and myself ) covered the minor league camps from beyond the outfield fences and even from the parking lot. Mark and Jim actually brought step stools to climb upon to see over the fences and Mark used his “super zoom” lenses to get action shots. He’s been hit with baseballs ( got konked on the head in spring training by a home run hit to center field while taking shots of BP ), bitten by ants ( the Lakeland complex has mounds of em ) and incurred both sun burn and heat exhaustion to deliver his terrific photos - all for a genuine love of the game ( never got paid a dime ) and the good feeling of helping others ( the players and their families often became friends and always were grateful ).
Personally to both my wife Barb and I he’s become a good friend. Both Mark and Hiro are kind hearted folks who truly care about others and personify that with their actions and efforts. My Phillies endeavors as a minor league writer and advocate have been extremely enhanced by Mark’s photos - just about every article I write features a “photo by Mark Wylie” credit. When I’ve posted his photos in volume on the Facebook page the response is always in the hundreds/thousands in views and thankful comments. He’s just a good dude who’s done a great job highlighting the Phillies minor leaguers over the past decade - can’t say enough how much we ( I ) appreciate him!
So - we wish Mark and Hiro the very best in their next adventure in life. We celebrate their successes and am sure more will follow, they are good people. I have a full library ( over 10,000 photos ) of previous Mark Wylie Phillies photos and will continue to use them in future articles. He has even more - I can’t promise him that I won’t send a text ( as I often do ) asking for a particular player shot to use 🤓.
We sincerely thank you Mr Wylie and will miss ya - that’s a heartfelt fact.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Mark Wylie - photo by Casey Burns
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