This is another photo from BCB reader Clark Addison.
As you know, Mark Prior suffered two serious injuries that eventually ended his MLB career.
The first one was a collision on the basepaths with Marcus
Giles of the Braves. That happened in the bottom of the second inning July 11, 2003, after Prior had walked. Here’s that play:
The second was when a line drive hit Prior in his pitching elbow, hit by Brad Hawpe of the Rockies. That happened in the top of the fourth inning May 27, 2005. Incidentally, that play turned into an out, as Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez caught the ball, as the baseball-reference link here states:
Foul Lineout: P-3B (3B into Foul Terr.)
So Prior wound up with an assist on the play, even as he left the game writhing in pain. Here’s that play:
Here’s the photo again.
Thus at first glance this doesn’t appear to be from either of those events. Prior was on the basepaths when he collided with Giles, thus he wouldn’t have been wearing a glove. And as you can see on the video of the Hawpe play, it was bright and sunny that day, so that doesn’t match the photo.
Here’s the key: Prior didn’t leave the game after the Giles collision. He pitched almost three more innings, finally leaving with two out in the top of the fifth, after he allowed a two-run homer to Andruw Jones and walked Robert Fick. That is what we are looking at in this photo and that’s when it was taken, Friday, July 11, 2003. The Cubs lost the game 9-5. The other identifiable people in the photo are Eric Karros (at the left), who was the first baseman that day, trainer Dave Tumbas, and umpire Mike Winters, who had the plate that afternoon.
Regarding the 2005 injury, I am convinced that one had a lot to do with Prior’s later shoulder troubles. Why? Because when that injury happened, many thought that would be season-ending, if not career-threatening. But Prior was back on the mound in four weeks. I think he came back too soon and perhaps subtly altered his mechanics, leading to his shoulder issues. Before that injury he had never had any shoulder problems, and in fact came back after the 2003 injury to throw really well the rest of 2003.
Lastly, for those of you who continue to think that Dusty Baker ruined Prior by overuse, Prior does not believe that — at all. I don’t think I read this 2016 Sports Illustrated article by Prior — I suspect I was busy thinking about other stuff that year — but in it he completely absolves Baker of any blame (emphasis in the original article):
Even now, when people hear my name, they still think about the hype and the potential. And, inevitably, the injuries.
So fine, let’s talk about it.
Some people pointed to problems with my delivery and arm action.
Others — mostly Cubs fans — still blame my manager, Dusty Baker, for the series of injuries that derailed my career. They believe that he overused me in 2003 and blah, blah, blah. Only, here’s the thing: I don’t blame Dusty for what happened to me. I wouldn’t change a single thing that happened during that season — beyond us failing to bring a World Series Championship to Chicago, of course. No matter how many pitches I threw, I never asked to come out of a game — doing so would have been unthinkable.
Dusty was hired to manage each game like it was his last. And over the course of a season (or even multiple seasons), that meant an endless series of decisions — especially when it comes to balancing pitcher workloads against the need to win games. Ironically, this is part of my job with the Padres now — the job pitching coaches at all our affiliates have — and it’s not an easy one. Like anything else, you do the best you can.
I believe Dusty did the best he could, and anyone who thinks he is responsible for what happened to me or Kerry Wood, I would strongly disagree.
So let’s put all of that blame for Dusty to rest. Baker can, in fact, be blamed for sitting on his butt and doing nothing after the, uh, “incident” in Game 6 of the NLCS in 2003. But what happened to Prior and Kerry Wood, both of whom had Hall of Fame talent in my view, was simply bad luck with various injuries.
Prior is now, from all accounts, doing a good job as pitching coach of the Dodgers, a job he’s held since 2020. I wish him well.
