7 seasons after his last major league appearance, former Cub phenom Mark Prior called it a career on Monday.  The second overall pick in the 2001 draft, Prior quickly rose to the major leagues, making his debut on May 22, 2002, earning the victory against the Pirates.  He excelled the following year, as a surprising Cubs team won their division and came within 5 outs of making their first World Series since 1945.  Prior finished the year 18-6, was named to the All Star team, finished third in Cy Young award voting and was ninth in voting for the MVP award.

2003 was also the start of Prior’s injury issues.  He hit the disabled list after colliding with Marcus Giles in a game in early July.  Thanks to the All Star break, he only missed 3 starts, but he never pitched a full season after that point.  He missed the first 2 months of the 2004 season due to an achilles injury.  In 2005, he again started the season on the disabled list and went back on after suffering a broken elbow after getting hit by a line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe.  2006 marked the third straight season that Prior would start the season on the DL, where he would stay until June 18.  Less than a month later, he would return to the DL with a strained oblique suffered during batting practice.  On August 10, Prior made his final start of the season, going 3 innings and picking up the loss to the Brewers.  Four days later, he was placed on the DL for the third and final time that season, due to tendinitis.  He would never pitch in the major leagues again.

Prior left the Cubs following the 2007 season, and, since then, he has attempted comebacks with the Padres, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox, and, most recently, the Reds, where he had to be shut down as a result of continuing shoulder problems after just 7 relief appearances in Triple A.  You couldn’t help but feel for him, a once in a lifetime stud pitcher who should have led the Cubs rotation for years and, instead, flamed out after 5 seasons.  Entire books could be written on what might have been, and now Mark Prior will have his summers free to read them.

Prior’s numbers in a Cub uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →