The fall of Prior

In 1998 the New York Yankees drafted Mark Prior but would later lose him due to contract differences. That year marked the beginning of what could go down as the most bizarre baseball “fall from grace” story in recent memory.

After the contract fell through, Mark headed to college to play baseball for Vanderbilt University. He transferred to USC the following year and went on to be the best collegiate pitcher in years, winning the Golden Spikes Award. The stage was set for Mark to set professional baseball on fire.

Mark Prior re-entered the draft in 2001 and was regarded the top prospect by most everyone who had any affiliation. Early projections had the Minnesota Twins grabbing up Prior as they had the first overall pick in the draft. Things changed quickly after the Twins office began to hear strange reports of Mark Prior openly rebuking Minnesota's organization. In the end Minnesota passed on the obvious choice and instead drafted Joe Mauer. The Chicago Cubs were thrilled with their luck and didn't hesitate to take Mark with the second overall pick in the draft.

After a short stay in the minor leagues, tearing up most every poor young sap he faced, Mark Prior made his major league debut on May 22^nd 2002 finishing the season with a respectable 6 and 6 season. The next year Prior picked up right where he left off, he finished the season 18 – 6, gained the third most Cy Young votes, and was voted into his first all star game. Unfortunately a collision with Atlanta Brave's Marcus Giles left him on the DL and watching the game from home. After Prior's stint on the disabled list came to an end, he compiled a 10-1 record, leading the Cubs into the playoffs, where they beat the Braves in the first round before losing to the eventual World Series Champion Floria Marlins in the NLCS despite a tightly contested seven game battle. Prior was on the mound for the infamous Steve Bartman incident. After the supposed fan interference, Prior lost all composure and turned a sure NL championship for the Cubs into another disappointment for Chicago fans.

The following year Prior was forced to miss the first two months of the season due to an achilles injury. There were published reports stating that Prior would need reconstructive Tommy John's Surgery on his elbow, but both Prior and the Cubs flatly denied this, saying that his achilles tendon injury is the only reason he missed time in 2004. After coming off the disabled list Prior did not pitch up to expectations, leading to more speculation about the health of his arm. However, towards the end of the 2004 season, Prior seemed to return to form.

Prior's 2005 season was again marred with numerous missed games due to injuries. After starting the season on the DL again, he returned and pitched well in the early part of the season. However, on May 27^th Prior was hit on his right pitching elbow by a 117-mph comeback line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe giving him a compression fracture. This sent him to another stint on the DL. Prior finished 11-7 in 27 starts. And so the DL stints continued right up to today where he's now looking at another few weeks on the DL, only this time with Triple A.

So what really happened to Mark Prior? Dusty Baker denies over pitching Mark too early in his career but the innings he put in at his age states otherwise. Was this the reason for his demise? Or can we push the blame somewhere else? Does Mark have some personal issues he's trying to work out in his head? The Chicago Tribune has hinted at the possibility that Mark is depressed at where his career is, and the way he presents himself shows an unhappy man. Is Mark going the way of Mitch Williams and letting the stress get to him? Then we have the more sinister idea that Mark Prior was an avid user of steroids. As much as I hate to kick a player while he's down, it's important that we all take note of the very real muscle loss we're seeing in Mark's lower body. Pictures can be seen here: http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2007/04/cubs_fans_talki.html. His once overpowering 97 mph fastball now struggles to hit 89 mph on the gun, settling in around 87. Where did the speed go?

I think it's important to make note of how Mark treated the idea of playing for Minnesota way back before he was drafted. Why did Prior feel he had any say in where he would go? Ultimitly he ended up playing in Des Monies Iowa.........which I'm sure he never wanted. Why are there reports from people from inside the Cubs organizations making steroid accusations, is it something we should be listening to? Does anyone remember the Mark Prior who blew up on Barry Bonds after hitting him when he was up to bat..............was it duel rage? We can only guess................but in the end it all comes down to numbers. The numbers never lie, a 7 plus ERA in both Spring and Triple A doesn't lie, a fast ball that's dropped off the side of the earth doesn't lie, the losses don't lie. Mark Prior's career, unfortunately, may have ended before it even really began. Maybe one day we'll know the real reason.