A generation ago, Jim McGregor came to Marion to catch for a minor league baseball team where Nolan Ryan had pitched just two years earlier.
Now, 55 years later, McGregor is coming back to celebrate his adopted hometown as Grand Marshal of the 2022 Marion Christmas Parade.
Community leader and business owner Bill Thompson of Thompson Tire is credited with making the connection. McGregor stopped by Thompson’s tire shop on Church Street one afternoon, recalling how he’d remembered the advertisements along the fenceline at the Marion stadium years ago. He was so impressed with the name of the original owner, Brodie Thompson – Bill Thompson’s father – that he named his own son Brodie in his honor. McGregor casually asked if any of Brodie Thompson’s relatives were still around, and to his surprise, Bill introduced himself. During the conversation, Thompson had the idea of commemorating the Marion Mets by asking McGregor to come back to town for the Christmas parade, and soon, plans were set.
“We are delighted to have Jim McGregor back in town,” said Marion Mayor David Helms. “To my knowledge, we’ve never had the honor of formally recognizing any of the former players, so this is a great honor. And it being the 55th anniversary of his season with us makes it even better.”
McGregor and his family will be staying at the General Francis Marion Hotel on Dec. 1 and 2, participating in the Community Christmas Tree Lighting Thursday night and serving as Parade Grand Marshal on Friday night.
The Marion Mets was a farm team for the New York Mets from 1965 to 1976. During the 1967 season, Marion Mets won 2nd place in the Appalachian League with a team record of 37-27, attracting 24,042 to their games in Marion stadium. Then-manager Birdie Tebbetts went on to become a four-time MLB All-Star. Other notable players from the 1967 Marion Mets include Ted Martinez, Tommy Moore, Charlie Hudson and Jesse Hudson.
