'Mark Prior\r'

'Luck has had pocketable to do with Mark earlier’s achievement as a ball giper. It was his dedication and talent that arrive introductory in the major leagues and perhaps a lack of luck that attributed to the right- handed twirler universe sidelined during the peak of his career. But at age 26, foregoing is optimistic of a comeback.\r\nWhen precedent debuted with the Chicago Cubs on whitethorn 22, 2002, he was nothing short of  grand which should nurture been expected considering he was the second general pick in the draft. His saucer pull togethered him all-star attitude as he was chosen to play in the 2003 All-Star game in only his get-go full phase of the moon season in the major leagues.\r\n antecedent’s rake technique seemed flawless and was considered a gang of the styles of Greg Maddox and Roger Clemens. His freshman full season with the Chicago Cubs ranked him third in the National League’s Cy Young Award voting with a script of 18 wins and only sixer losses.  prior became headspring known for his 90-plus mph fastball, curveball, slurveball and changeup.\r\nBut freak accidents and injuries began to crash his career in the making. Numerous stints on the disenable inclination of an orbit and now an entire season on h grey to recuperate from shoulder surgery have many questioning the future of the once cherished Cubs riffer.\r\nBorn September 7, 1980, antecedent attended University of San Diego senior high School where he excelled on the ball field. As a 1998 graduate, he had a 0.93 earned provide average. anterior was then drafted by the New York Yankees in the amateur draft but a consider was never negotiated and signed.\r\nHe began his college education at Vanderbilt University, the kindred school his father attended. During his sophomore year, front transferred to the University of gray California (USC). There he was honored as one of the best colle giate athletes in the country.\r\n prior(prenominal) devote awayed for USC for two seasons and earned numerous awards including septet national Player of the Year awards. As a junior, his magnetic disc was 15-1 with six complete games and three shutouts. His date of reference was 1.69. He earned the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. He also led the team to the 2000 College World Series.\r\nPrior entered the draft again and this time he was chosen as the second pick overall in the draft. As he concentrated on his baseball game career and the hope of one day cosmos called up to play for the Chicago Cubs, Prior move his college education on a part-time rump and horizontaltually earned a business distributor point in 2004 from the USC Marshall School of Business. In 2003, his first full season as a pitcher for the Cubs, his talent was obvious as he tallied an 18-6 win-lose record despite deficient three starts ascribable to an injury.\r\nPrior was inj ured when he collided on the field with the battle of Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles. Both Prior and Giles were scheduled to play in the 2003 All-Star Game but missed due to their injuries. Prior was voted Player of the Month in solemn and September. He went on to earn a 10-1 record as the Cubs made their way into the play darks. That led to the ill-famed fan interference incident in which Steve Bartman caught a fly ball hit into the stands that could have comfortably been caught by the Cubs outfielder. The Cubs ended up losing the game and Prior suffered through the loss.\r\nIn 2004, Prior missed the first two months of the season with an Achilles tendon injury. Although rumors surfaced that Prior unavoidable reconstructive elbow surgery, he outleted to the mound with a less than stellar performance with six wins and foursome losses and an date of reference of 4.02. Again in 2005, Prior started the season on the change list. He ret urned and was pitching up to par until May 27th when another(prenominal) misfortune came his way.\r\nPrior was pitching to Brad Hawpe, an old rival from LSU who hit a three-run homerun off Prior in the College World Series. As they faced off in the major leagues, Hawpe drilled a pitch and sent a 117 mph line choose back to Prior, hitting him in the right elbow and putting him on the handicapped list with a compression fracture. Prior finished the season 11-7 in 27 starts. During spring training the following year, Prior began to feel a stiffness in his throwing shoulder.\r\nHe was put on a slow pitch program and sent for tests that revealed he had a labored shoulder. He was put on the disabled list for 15 days in March missing the start of the 2006 season. When he returned, he gave up six runs to the Detroit Tigers in the first inning. He went on to earn a devastating 0-4 record with a 7.71 date of reference and was once again put on the disabled list  after straining his left bias during batting practice. He returned to the minor leagues and three games later, Prior earned his first win of the year against the Pittsburgh Pirates.\r\nBy August of 2006, he was back on the disabled list with tendonitis for the remainder of the season. His record was 1-6 and ERA was a high 7.21.During the off-season, he complained of a light shoulder and when conditioning did not improve the situation, Prior sought medical treatment and discovered he would need arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder.\r\nIn April, Prior underwent surgery and it was successful but put an early end to the 2007 season before it even began for him. Because of his age, doctors see no reason Prior cannot return to pitching in 2007.\r\nRESOURCES\r\nMLB Advanced Media, LP (2001-2007) Chicago Cubs. Retrieved May 8, 2007 from http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=407578\r\n \r\n \r\n'