DEARBORN, Mo. — Mike and Cindy Hill know the vultures are coming. They would’ve expected it anyway, because that’s what happens in America when people win the lottery. So they’re not surprised the business offers started coming in before they were even officially introduced as the winners of nearly $300 million.

But they probably didn’t expect a request from a baseball All-Star.

“Hey Powerball winner/Royals fan in MO,” Royals slugger Billy Butler posted on Twitter. “...feel free to drop some $$$ off at the stadium... it will be put to good use! #pitching #spreadthelove”

The Hills had a news conference Friday at North Platte High School, where they first fell in love. The gym was packed with at least 14 television cameras and what looked like the entire enrollment of this Class 1 school. They talked a lot about staying grounded, still going for breakfast at the Corner Café, and using the money for their church, charities and scholarships.

Those are fine causes and all, but everyone knows the Royals need pitching and that owner David Glass is apparently just scraping by, so I told the Hills about Butler’s tweet, wondering if maybe they’d set aside $10 million or so to help out with a contract for Anibal Sanchez or something.

They just laughed.

The Royals connection goes deeper, though, but it took a real fan to notice when the winning numbers were announced: 5, 16, 22, 23 and 29, with a Powerball of 6.

In other words: George Brett, Bo Jackson, Dennis Leonard, Mark Gubicza, Dan Quisenberry (or Mike Sweeney) with a Powerball of Willie Wilson.

Some obvious thoughts: Why would Wilson be the Powerball? Wouldn’t Bo have been the more logical choice? And won’t Frank White, No. 20, take this as another sign of disrespect?

Anyway, when it was announced that the winning ticket with those numbers was sold in the Kansas City area, many began to wonder if two solid decades of inept baseball had suddenly turned into an Alex Rodriguez contract’s worth of good karma for a Royals fan.

Well, as it turns out … not so much. The Hills didn’t pick the numbers. A computer did.

“Totally random,” Cindy said. “Although we do love the Royals.”

No worries.

As some have joked already, even if the Royals owned the winning ticket, they probably would’ve traded it for a low-level prospect and future Scratchers considerations.

So the next natural question, this one for Mike: If you did pick six Royals for a lottery ticket, who would they be?

“Frank White, George Brett, Hal McRae, Amos Otis, and, I can’t think of anymore,” Mike said. There’s a pause. “Oh, Freddy Patek.”

And perhaps that’s the most Royals thing in all of this. Mike could only think of five.

The man’s mind is surely racing, though.

They can use the money. He was out of work for a while before catching on as a nightshift mechanic at Hillshire Brands in St. Joseph. Cindy was laid off as an office manager two years ago, and actually had a telephone interview for a new job on Thursday but missed the call. She won’t call back, and Mike’s worked his last day.

That’s the way it goes with lottery winners, of course.

The Hills say they’ll take a nice vacation with some relatives, and “have a pretty good Christmas,” but other than that try to live normal lives. Their 6-year-old daughter, Jaiden, for instance, won’t get the pony she’s been asking for.

But they don’t plan to move far from Dearborn, a small town about halfway between Kansas City and St. Joseph. No major luxuries for this family.

“It’s like, how much does a person need?” Cindy said.

Well, actually, that’s the thing. There’s this guy who owns this baseball team in town that needs some starting pitchers … .