Hank King started in baseball when he was a just a kid, and he never left. A graduate of Upper Merion High School in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (Class of 1962), King was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles at the age of 17 and was pitching in their system days later (one of his minor league managers was none other than the legendary Cal Ripken, Sr.). A left-handed hurler, he spent six seasons in the O's system and one with the White Sox before his elbow had enough.

Just before the 1975 Major League Baseball season, Hank sent a note to one of his former minor league managers, Billy DeMars, who had recently become a coach with the Philadelphia Phillies. King wished DeMars luck and in the postscript joked that he was available if the Phils ever needed "a flamethrower." DeMars called King the day the Phillies finished Spring Training and arrived from Clearwater, and asked him if he could be at Veterans Stadium the next day. The Phillies needed a batting practice pitcher. Hank was nervous at first, because it had been five years since he touched a baseball. He told DeMars, "I don't have a glove, I don't have spikes." Encouraged by his wife Carol Ann to "Go!", Hank showed up and ended up staying with the organization for the next 34 years.

During the 1984 season, Hugh Alexander stepped down as the Phillies' advanced scout. The team asked King to take the job.

Advanced scouts sit behind the backstop and spy on future opponents. What pitches does this guy throw? What pitches can't this guy hit? How do you position this guy? Which outfielder can be run on? The advanced scout prepares reports on opponents, then passes the intelligence on to his team as it prepares for an upcoming series. The team plays the game, and the advanced scout moves on, always one step ahead. Hank did that job for an incredible 25 years, culminating with the Phillies 2008 World Series championship.

He's a baseball lifer, a member of both the Upper Merion High School Wall of Fame and the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame, and considers it an honor and privilege to help teach the next generation how to succeed in all aspects of the great game of baseball.