Mark Prior Retires

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius40 Comments

priorMark Prior officially announced his retirement today at the winter meetings. Sadly, this was a move a long time coming. Prior threw his last big league pitch over seven years ago and has been trying to make it back ever since, but his body just couldn't hold up. 

Despite everything that has happened since the 2003 season, Prior and Sosa have remained my favorite Cubs players. I loved Sosa for the way he completely dominated the baseball landscape from 1998-2003, and that wasn't just about HRs. That's a topic for another post that I'll probably write around HOF election time. But Prior was the rising star on the first Cubs team that I followed from start of the season all the way through the end. I missed out on 98 Kerry Wood, but Prior easily stepped into that role. 

Much ink has been spilled over what broke Prior. I remember half a thousand articles in Prior's first year about how he had perfect mechanics, and that coaches should teach their kids to copy Prior's motion. Somehow years later everyone was talking about the M arm motion in the mechanics dooming his health. (I refuse to use the term 'inverted W', unless it's in reference to the hilarious series of movie posters that came from this on ACB). Prior took a line drive off his elbow, and had a nasty collision with Marcus Giles that may or may not have messed things up. Dusty Baker in particular tends to have the finger pointed at him for his overuse of Prior in 2003. As pointed out by Joe Posnanski today, Prior threw 131, 129, 109, 124, 131, and 133 pitches in his six starts in September of his rookie year, not to mention throwing 116 pitches in 7 innings despite the Cubs staking him to a 8-0 lead in the first three innings of game 2 of the 2003 NLCS. While I do think that this was irresponsible on Baker's part, I don't think it's what broke him (or blew game 6 for that matter). I think people are way too quick to jump on pitch counts these days and Prior was the kind of guy who could handle an outing like that, however it feels safe to say that doing it for two straight months is not a great idea. But really what it boils down to is that these things just happen sometimes, and it sucks.

I thought Poz had a pretty good comparison for Prior in his article – Mark Fidrych. Fidrych had an amazeballs rookie year, then his arm went dead the next year and that was that. I wonder what would have happened for Fidrych if his injury had happened 25 years later. It was pretty easy to leave things as 'dead arm' in the 70s and no one really questioned it. Prior, meanwhile, had every step of his rehab reported on in agonizing detail, from the endless towel drills to half a hundred inconclusive MRIs. Fans, implicitly egged on by the media, mocked Prior as a pussy for not playing through pain, a pattern we've seen continue with Jay Cutler over the past few seasons. When Prior finally gave up on rehabbing the shoulder and they opened it up, he did indeed have the painful shoulder injury that he claimed to have all along that the MRIs could never confirm. 

Prior will probably stick around baseball, as it sounds like he has a job or something back in his hometown with the San Diego organization. I'll pour Stone IPA in his honor this weekend, and remember the good times that were the first six and a half months of the 2003 season.

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  1. Myles

    Are you sure you shouldn’t be drinking an Arrogant Bastard Ale?

    It is a Stone Brewing joke

    (seriously, though, Ruination IPA is thematically appropriate here.)

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  2. josh

    I think I read that Fidyrich was diagnosed years later with a torn rotator cuff. He threw on it without knowing it, then it healed wonky and that was that.

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  3. uncle dave

    Sad, but I hope he catches on in some other capacity if that’s what he wants to do. He had about the best stuff/control combo I’ve ever seen. I don’t know why this has stuck with me, but I recall that the scouting comp that was always used with him was Floyd Bannister. Was that a compliment? Somehow, I feel like his ceiling was a lot higher than that.

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  4. WaLi

    Myles wrote:

    Are you sure you shouldn’t be drinking an Arrogant Bastard Ale?
    It is a Stone Brewing joke
    (seriously, though, Ruination IPA is thematically appropriate here.)

    [img]http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/files/2010/05/thumbs_up_you_like_this_bumper_sticker-p128096592726024722trl0_4001.jpg[/img]

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  5. uncle dave

    Thoughts on the ‘bags-Sox-Angels trade? My first thought is THEO, CALL THE FUCKING DIAMONDBACKS IMMEDIATELY AND MAKE A DEAL. Also, what the fuck are the Sox doing there? Unless they’re getting something else in the deal, why trade a cheap and reasonably good player for one who makes veteran money and hasn’t been above replacement for like five years?

    Maybe I’m missing something, but this is just strange.

    Chump edit: wrong Eaton. Still, call the Diamondbacks, for God’s sake.

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  6. Like You Care

    @ Berselius:

    Pretty much. There have been reports that Saban is less than content with the pressure at Alabama. I think Texas is betting that a bunch of cash and less pressure is enough to land him.

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  7. Myles

    GBTS wrote:

    I feel we need to acknowledge Bubbles and how right he was about Alshon Jeffery.

    If you’ll roll back my twitter, you’ll clearly see that

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  8. Suburban kid

    Source: #Kerouac acquires Ginsberg from #Howl for Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty.– Bill Burroughs (@naked_brunch) December 10, 1958

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  9. uncle dave

    Source: #DrGonzo acquires Lucy from #Mint400 for L. Ron Burnquist and Lacerda.– Raoul Duke (@HST) November 11, 1971

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  10. uncle dave

    Source: #EnfieldTennis acquires Don Gately from #EnnetHouse for Hal Incandenza and Michael Pemulis.– David Foster Wallace (@harpersbizzare) February 1, 1996

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  11. Author
    Berselius

    Like You Care wrote:

    Pretty much. There have been reports that Saban is less than content with the pressure at Alabama. I think Texas is betting that a bunch of cash and less pressure is enough to land him.

    It’s a good thing Texas football fans are known for being so laid back (dying laughing).

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  12. sitrick

    Source: #God acquires Mr. Krook from #SpontaneousCombustion for A Pile Of Goop.– Charles Dickens (@Jarndyced) June 18, 1853

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  13. sitrick

    Myles wrote:

    Word on the street via Heyman and Arguello is that Shark is likely gone today barring a last-minute extension agreement.

    Makes that meeting yesterday make a little more sense. “We have offers we like on the table. We’d love to extend you, but this is it, take it or leave it.”

    Also, unrelated, but I really hope they do sign Hammel.

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  14. WaLi

    So my team this week:
    QB: Matt Ryan (just picked him up… a lot of other QB’s available though. Was thinking about Cassel or picking up Cutler if he starts)
    RB: Eddie Lacy
    RB: Gerhart
    WR: Andre Johnson
    WR: Antonio Brown
    TE: Jordan Cameron
    Flex: Roddy White
    K: Phil Dawson (Dropped Matt Bryant)
    Def: SF
    Bench: Ray Rice (vs Lions D)
    Bench: Darren Sproles
    Bench: Donald Brown
    Bench: Greg Olsen

    Playing against #1 in the league this week. need to beat his ass so any help is appreciated. My league also is weird.. it’s 1 point per 5 yards reception.

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