Mark Prior (SP), ChC

End of career? Or is this guy gonna keep taking it.

outtahere1357 wrote:

End of career? Or is this guy gonna keep taking it.

He is still getting paid. I know I would volunteer to have multiple arm surgeries on a yearly basis to make his salary.

He's still young. His Cub career is probably over, but as long as he wants to keep trying, I'm sure he can have some sort of a career. I can't imagine how tough it would be to have everything come to you so easily, to become a near-superstar, only to be able to hope that you can comeback to be a functional player.

We've seen the ugly (Bo Jackson) and, rarely, we've seen the successes (John Smoltz). We've also missed the countless guys that just didn't want to completely start over and reinvent themselves. I know Jackson and Smoltz aren't perfect comparisons, but I was just looking for the extremes.

I think it's just up to Prior if he wants to do that. If he does, and his shoulder holds up, he could still have a nice little career. But those are big "ifs".

Just ran across this article, figured some of you would enjoy it:

Baseball Prospectus wrote:

Jumping On Prior Conclusions by Kevin Goldstein Well, they finally figured out what was wrong with Mark Prior’s shoulder . . . everything. While I’ll leave it to Mr. Carroll to explain exactly what happened (with pictures, no less), let’s discuss what happened beforehand. Basically, for the last two years or so, sports radio and print here in Chicago has been filled with inferences that Mark Prior was, for lack of a better term, a wuss. While doctors struggled to find an answer for Prior’s velocity issues, accusations (both direct and indirect) were flying left and right. It’s all in his head, he’s never dealt with adversity, his confidence is shot, he’s overcompensating for the normal soreness that every other pitcher deals with, nothing is really wrong with him, etc. Meanwhile, while spending just as much time off the field as Prior, Kerry Wood got a free pass. See, this Wood guy, he’s a man’s man. He’s from Texas and he talks like one would expect the Marlboro man to and he curses and spits and gets arrested for public urination. He’s a tough guy, see? But no, not Prior. Prior was downright erudite, following in his father’s footsteps by attending Vanderbilt before transferring closer to home at Southern California. Prior actually finished his class work after being drafted and got a degree, a rarity among ballplayers. In interviews, he was calm, collected and thoughtful, if not downright boring. He didn’t have spiked hair or a goatee, he almost looked more fitting in a suit than a baseball uniform. He wasn’t what we expected a baseball player to be as a personality, he wasn’t the kind of guy who would punch you in the shoulder when he greeted you, and therefore he was a wimp. Well guess what, folks? Mark Prior has been trying to pitch for what looks like two-plus years with the kind of damage in his shoulder that would have you or I thinking about worker’s compensation even though our jobs probably require little more than sitting in from of a computer much of the day. You own him an apology, and if he comes back in the way Dr. Andrews believes he can, many Cubs fans don’t deserve to reap the benefits.

Good read. Wood always seems to get a pass in this city, while Prior gets railed on for not pitching. It's a double-standard if I have ever seen one.

I have had enough of Wood to be honest. I have always been a Prior fan, and to be honest I dont understand why he didn't get things checked up a lot earlier than he did. Why didn't he just go and get everything checked out? Everytime I heard about him being injured "experts" told him he has a genetic "looseness" in his shoulder or he just has a tired arm. Why is it that just NOW they find out he had a lot more extensive damage in his shoulder? Oh and he was/is one of the more popular players for the Cubs and sold a crapload of jerseys. It isn't the fans, but radio jockeys that were on his ass.

Yeah I always viewed Wood as the one who had the fans on his back and Prior got the free pass. If this perception is wrong, then surely the way the fans viewed Prior was unjust. Like Wolvie, however, I've become sick of Wood and his nagging injuries and stick with Prior.