Mark Littell was a professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues for the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. He was born on January 17th, 1953 in Cape Girardeau, and grew up in the lower Bootheel of Missouri, where he started honing his baseball skills at an early age. Mark was signed by the Royals in 1971 and was on a personal fast track when he made his debut on June 14th, 1973 in Baltimore. In 1978 he was traded to the Cardinals where he finished out his career in 1982. 

After leaving major league baseball, Mark served as coach in-residence for Australia’s Bicentennial in 1988. He would spend three more seasons “Down Under.” He became a minor league pitching coach with San Diego, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, covering a span of 18 years. He coached and played in the Dominican Republic and was the speaker on the pitching phase for the Panamanian Baseball Federation. In 2016, Mark was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017-2018, Mark spoke at the International AFIDE Conference in Havana, Cuba. He followed up by coaching there on two more occasions. 

Mark was the author of four books - On the Eighth Day God Made Baseball, Country Boy: Conveniently Wild, What’s Up Ramrod, and Bootheel Boy: Ain’t Nothin’ But a Party. He wrote them himself, without the assistance of a ghostwriter. He was also the inventor of the NuttyBuddy, a protective cup that won top honors from the Industrial Design Society of America.

Partnering with the “Wake Foundation — Helping Wounded Veterans” kept him on his toes as he visited veteran hospitals, veteran homes, and many other events related to the support of our Veterans. 

Mark died on September 5th, 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was 69 years old. He is survived by Sanna, his wife of 23 years.