Beat me by four minutes. It makes me sad, that kid was so good and had so much talent.

I think this article by Tom Verducci in ‘08 explained Prior’s downfall well:

MARK PRIOR is a classic example of a high-performing pitcher who was permitted to break down because of poor mechanics. Ironically, Prior was often hailed for his “flawless” mechanics when the Cubs drafted the righthander out of USC with the No. 2 pick in 2001, though that assessment seems to have been influenced by scouts’ preference for his 6’5", 225-pound body type. Studied closely, his mechanics included two severe red flags: 1) Prior lifted his throwing elbow higher than his shoulder before reaching the loaded position, increasing the stress on his elbow and shoulder; and 2) … Prior rotated his hips and torso before getting to the loaded position. With the letters of Prior’s jersey already facing the target, his arm could not simply “go along for the ride”—the ride was over, so his arm had to generate all of its own power.

I remember all the talk about him pitching forever due to his perfect form and I think that ultimately hurt him because people didn’t catch these flaws early enough. Or as was stated earlier in that article, people just kept having that attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
I still wish him the best of luck in his career and hopefully he can still get out of this string of injuries and continue to play baseball. He was amazing to have seen in person while he was still with the Cubs.

The first person to suggest we take a flyer on him will be dead.

i hope he pitches again. He became my favortie cub in 02

He pitched 5.2 NO hit innings against the Mets in August of 06 got an a no decision in a loss. Looked ok not great but threw far too many pitches. It was part of the utter meltdown of the Cubs in 06 anyway but I don’t think I suspected I would never see him pitch again.

I got a laugh to see it at first, but then I read the article and just felt bad for Mark. He really got a tough break… it said he was making $15,000/month with the Padres… I know that’s a ton to us regular folk, but he was making that per inning pitched back in the day… what an incredible fall from grace. I hope he can find some doctors that can help him so at least he has a chance to pitch again… but it sounds like his career might be over. I wish him nothing but luck.

My new trainer at the health club I belong to was once a top pitching prospect.

He blew out his arm and kept trying to come back but it kept getting hurt.

He got a cup of coffee in the bigs, pitched 6 innings in relief as a September callup.

We had an interesting talk while he put me through my paces.

The dream once you get an even small taste of it is hard to give up.

than this of Mark Prior and his Elbow

until Prior and Woods return, we should have a shot at the playoffs

Linky

He lived up to the hype, but flamed out. I truly feel bad for him, remember how exiting it was to watch his minor league highlights on sportscenter? I also think back to the days of Wood, Prior and Zambrano, some announcer said Z had the best stuff on the staff, now we know its the truth. Good luck Mark.

Hey, at least he went back to school.

The guy had all of this input from Tom House and others who told him this is how to throw and he took the advise and it ruined his career.
 Alot of bad advise and bad luck. Shame.

with a business degree and lots of money. He’ll be all right even if he never throws another pitch.

Paul Sullivan, did you report about this “angry” retort back when it happened in 2006? (I looked at Sullivan’s report on the game in the August 11 & 12, 2006 Tribs and I did not see where Sullivan reported on it.)

“Asked afterwards if he would be shut down for the rest of the season, an angry Prior shot back: “What do you think? No.”"

If you didn’t report that “angry” retort then, why are you reporting it now?

Throwing a stone from a distance Paul?

Just kidding! :-)

Mark Fidrych.

(Prior is Fidrych without the Bird’s “bubbly” personality…plus the towels…)