Emma: Mark Prior Refuses To Be Broken

By Chris Emma--

(CBS) Twilight had set on a spring night at Wrigley Field, and the sun began its rise for a budding baseball star.

On May 22, 2002, a sellout crowd of 40,138 at the Friendly Confines rose to its feet as 21-year-old Mark Prior walked from the third-base dugout to the mound. One of the most anticipated debuts in Cubs history opened an era nobody could have expected to end so soon.

Prior was so imposing at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, built like an NFL receiver more than a major league pitcher. Youth was in his face, yet he stood tall like a veteran ace. Prior hiked up his pinstripe pants to expose his blue socks and large calves, the base to what seemed to be a flawless delivery.

"He was impressive," said Pat Hughes, the longtime radio voice of the Cubs. "He had a real presence on the mound."

Prior was welcomed to Chicago like a star. The Cubs were struggling in fifth place at the time of his debut and seeking somebody of Prior's stature. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2001 MLB Draft, Prior pitched in just 18 minor league games before his big league debut.

Such great anticipation met Prior's first night under the bright lights of Wrigley Field, and he didn't disappoint, pitching six innings and striking out 10 Pittsburgh Pirates while earning a victory.

The Cubs were confident Prior would be their future ace for a decade. His debut was to be just the beginning of a bright baseball career.

"You never know in this game," then-Cubs president Andy MacPhail said before Prior's first start. "But he hasn't given us any indication that he's not going to be a very productive player for a very long period of time."

Fate would derail the extraordinary promise of Prior. The sun set far too soon.

Prior's last pitch in the majors came in 2006, and his final throw in baseball came seven years later -- not under the twilight of fabled Wrigley Field, but in front of 5,634 fans in Indianapolis.

Still fighting for one last comeback, Prior felt his arm give out on the mound on April 21, 2013. He was pitching for the Triple-A Louisville Bats as a member of the Reds organization and had an ERA of 4.66 in seven appearances. Prior felt his arm twinge on the final pitch of the seventh inning. It was a 2-1 deficit for the Bats, and Prior needed to come through. He returned for the eighth inning with a sudden drop in velocity.

At that point, he was fighting to finish with dignity.

"I knew right then that this was it," Prior recalled. "I did everything I could just so I could walk off the mound. I got out of the inning, just kind of walked off, walked into the clubhouse, knew it was done, called my wife and said I'm done.

"I just knew. It wasn't much thought about it. I knew I was done."

Doctors convinced Prior to rehab his arm for six weeks, which he reluctantly did, but that was the end and he knew it. There would be no more comeback attempts.

Prior returned home to San Diego as a 32-year-old father faced with finding his next chapter in life. Injuries ended his promising career far too soon, and he knew he didn't want misfortune to define him.

Now, Prior is a different kind of rising star in baseball. He's on a fast track with the Padres organization, currently serving as one of their top pitching coordinators and a trusted adviser for their future. He could one day become a big league manager or general manager.

"Nobody knows what tomorrow's going to bring," Prior said looking back on his career. "It was part of it. Those were events. I don't think twice about it right now."

'At peace with it'

Walk through the streets of Wrigleyville on the day of a game, and you'll find the Cubs' new guard well represented in memorabilia.

Jerseys of Anthony Rizzo's 44, Kris Bryant's 17, Jake Arrieta's 49 and even David Ross's 3 are donned all throughout the neighborhood. Cubs fans take great pride in their thrilling team, which stands atop the baseball world for now and perhaps years to come.

Amid the scene, you can also count on seeing jerseys with Prior's 22 on the back. Now 14 years removed from his debut and a decade past his final season in Cubs blue, Prior remains a fixture of the fan base.

Heroes of Cubdom are remembered forever, and even in his short time, Prior seemed larger than life. He was a star for the 2003 team that surprised the baseball world by winning the NL Central crown and hunting for a World Series.

Last year, Prior flew into Chicago's O'Hare Airport on an assignment with the Padres organization. With some time available, he drove out of his way on the Kennedy Expressway and turned down exit 44 headed east toward Wrigley Field. He pulled up to the old ballpark and remembered his time as a Cub.

Prior took in the buzz around the neighborhood, then stopped in and visited with familiar faces. Years later, Prior is still proud to be remembered as a Cub. Chicago brought him many memories.

"It's a fun environment," Prior said. "It's a really fun environment. It's a great town to be a part of when you're on a winning ballclub in Chicago. I really enjoyed my time there.

"Nothing but good memories of my time there."

Wrigleyville is electric each day the Cubs are in town, and winning is now a regularity.

Rizzo and Bryant are battling it out for MVP honors, Arrieta is seeking his second straight Cy Young and manager Joe Maddon has energized the city's north side. It takes Prior back to the summer of 2003.

Few expected the Cubs to win the division after they finished in fifth place with an abysmal 67-95 record in 2002, after which Dusty Baker took over as manager.

Everything changed with Baker. The Cubs had instant credibility and played like a winner. They would rack up 88 victories in 2003 and clinched the division on the final weekend of the season, with a doubleheader sweep of the Pirates. Prior struck out 10 and in 6 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs to earn his 18th win of the season. Matt Clement pitched a gem in Game 2 and the Cubs would finish it off when the Pirates' Jose Hernandez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Wrigley Field roared on the final out. Fans gathered on the streets surrounding the ballpark danced on through the night. This Cubs team seemed to have destiny.

"Why not us?''' Baker told his Cubs after the clincher in 2003. "This is only the first step in a four-step process. We've got three steps to climb and this club is willing and ready."

Game 3 of the NLDS brought Prior's highly anticipated playoff debut, and he was outstanding. Prior outdueled Hall of Famer Greg Maddux with a 99-pitch complete game, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory against the Braves. Kerry Wood would pitch the Cubs to a series-clinching victory in Game 5.

Prior toed the rubber during Game 2 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins, throwing another terrific game, going seven innings and allowing two runs as the Cubs evened the series at 1-1.

Six night later, it was Prior on the mound for the most infamous game and moment in Cubs history -- Game 6 of the NLCS, with the Cubs just one victory away from their first World Series appearance in 58 years.

The Cubs had a 3-0 lead entering the 8th inning, with Prior retaking the mound and in full control. They were on their way.

"I thought he was going to be the guy that was going to win that game," said Hughes, "and carry the Cubs into the World Series.

"I remember that game vividly. I don't like to recall what happened in the eighth inning of that game, because it still, believe it or not, is very painful."

The rest is history. Front-row fan Steve Bartman interfered with a foul ball in left fielder Moises Alou's potential reach, then Luis Castillo walked. Alex Gonzalez botched the double play ball that would've saved it all. Baker left a visibly frustrated Prior on the mound, and Derrek Lee ripped a game-tying, two-run double to left field on Prior's 119th pitch. It would be his last postseason pitch ever.

The Marlins tallied eight runs in the inning and would go on to win Game 6 by an 8-3 score, then advanced to the World Series with a Game 7 victory at Wrigley. The Marlins would make history and that Cubs team would be remembered not for its special rise but instead for its infamy.

Looking back on everything from Bartman and Gonzalez to the bitter end, Prior chooses to remember only the good.

"It was a fun time," Prior said of the 2003 postseason. "I can only imagine what it's like now, these last two years, with the way they're playing, the youthful team they have, the excitement with Arrieta, Rizzo and Maddon.

"It didn't end like anybody wanted it to, but that place was electric. The whole town was electric."

Prior finished the 2003 season with an 18-6 record and 2.43 ERA, earning All-Star honors and finishing third in the NL Cy Young race. He even garnered MVP votes, finishing ninth in the NL tally.

Scouts believed Prior was a flawless prospect. He was a specimen on the mound, a tall, muscular pitching prodigy with that smooth delivery. Prior would look toward home plate past his glove, drop his left foot back, pivot on his right foot, arc that left knee up to his chest, then extend his left foot and let that strong lower body take over.

But Prior's body didn't hold up beyond 2003. It would be his only professional season of good health.

Prior opened the 2004 campaign by missing two months with an Achilles injury. He pitched just 21 games and was 6-4 with a 4.02 ERA. Prior opened the 2005 season on the disabled list but returned nine games into the season and looked dominant. He started 3-0 with an 0.95 ERA, and the promise returned.

Once again, misfortune struck, this time at 117 miles per hour. On May 27, 2005, Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe lined a pitch off Prior's right elbow, causing a fracture. He would miss only a month but wasn't the same pitcher ever again.

In 2006, Prior worked through a throwing program in spring training -- simulated games, towel snapping and constant arm preparation -- but the shoulder soreness returned and he missed the first two months of the season. Prior would pitch in just nine games, going 1-6 with a 7.21 ERA.

Prior's final outing game on Aug. 10, 2006, when he was shelled for five earned runs in just three innings against the Brewers. Four days later, he was placed on the disabled list for the third time that season and shut down with tendinitis. He would never pitch in the big leagues again.

"Those were parts of my history, parts of my personal career," Prior said. "Those moments shaped who I am now. I'm at peace with it."

'Still had a passion'

Four whole years would pass between professional pitches for Prior. He last walked off the mound in Milwaukee's Miller Park and next returned in 2010 at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif., home of the Orange County Flyers.

Prior wanted a return with the Cubs in 2007 but was shut down after structural damage was found in his throwing shoulder. The Cubs would release him that December. Prior would join the Padres organization for the 2008 season, but he tore his shoulder during a rehab start in May.

In 2009, Prior was given another chance with the Padres but didn't progress to the liking of general manager Kevin Towers. He was released that August.

Searching desperately for his old self, Prior instead found his true love for the game of baseball.

"Those were some interesting years," Prior said. "I had a couple surgeries on my shoulder, some failed comeback attempts and many times where I was done playing, but something made me want to keep going out and playing catch on the field."

Prior attempted to reinvent himself as a middle reliever in 2010, beginning in Orange County. He pitched 11 shutout innings in nine relief appearances with the Flyers and was signed to a deal with the Texas Rangers. Prior would pitch in the minor league systems of the Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox and Reds from 2010-'13 and found health, but he was far from the Cy Young candidate of a decade before.

Honesty set in as Prior balanced his aspirations for a big league career with simply playing for the fun of the game. Eventually, the scale tipped and he was just enjoying it all.

"I knew where I stood," Prior said. "I knew I wasn't the same guy. I knew that, at best, I was a marginal-reliever-in-the-bullpen option. I think I could get outs in the big leagues, but I wasn't going to be a front-line reliever. I was honest with myself.

"When it ended, I had no regrets. I knew that I did everything I could to come back, and I always enjoyed the time playing, no matter whether I was healthy or injured, bright lights at Wrigley or backfields in Fort Myers or Arizona."

Prior came quickly through the Cubs organization en route to his debut in the majors. He pitched in parts of just five MLB seasons and had a winding road through the minors.

Once a top baseball prospect, Prior finished out working alongside young talents like Chris Davis, Mookie Betts and Billy Hamilton. There was no frustration -- he loved it.

"Pawtucket and Louisville and even Scranton, I really enjoyed playing those last few years," Prior said. "It was a lot of fun. I knew that I still had a passion to be part of the game, be involved and helping. For me, I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time."

Prior never found his way back to the majors, but he instead realized his passion for baseball. He returned home to San Diego in 2013 and became a full-time father of three. Prior considered moving away from the game he loved, even picking up surfing in California. He wasn't good at it.

One day later that year, Prior was watching his daughter's soccer game in San Diego when he encountered another dad on the sidelines, Josh Byrnes, then general manager of the Padres.

When leading the Diamondbacks' front office as general manager, Byrnes had hired former big league catcher A.J. Hinch to oversee the organization's minor league operation. He would later become director of player development, then was promoted by Byrnes to become manager. Hinch is managing his fourth season and led the Astros to a surprising postseason berth in 2015.

Current Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto got his big break with Byrnes, too, hired in 2005 to be the Diamondbacks' director of scouting and player personnel.

Byrnes saw similar potential in Prior. He believed Prior could rise through the ranks of a baseball organization.

"If you ever want to think about the next phase, give me a buzz," Byrnes recalls telling Prior at that soccer game.

Prior called quickly: "All that interested me. One thing kind of led to another."

There was no doubt, Prior is incredibly bright. He had baseball smarts that those around the game recognized, but he also graduated with a business degree from USC. Potential was certainly there for Prior to become successful away from the game of baseball.

Those last few seasons of playing baseball didn't bring disappointment, not by any means. Prior recognized his passion for the game and discovered a new future.

"There's a common leg that people who are passionate about the game," said Byrnes, who saw that potential in Prior. "There are so many ways you can contribute to an organization. That's extremely motivating."

'Things happen for a reason'

Nearly a full decade removed from his final pitch in the majors, there was Prior in the sweltering summer heat of Fort Wayne, Ind.

He wore all Padres navy blue, with a team-issued bucket hat and long-sleeved shirt, walking through Fort Wayne's Parkview Field with a fungo bat in hand. Far removed from the big leagues, Prior's next chapter now takes place in small minor league stadiums like this.

"It's unfinished business," Byrnes said.

Prior, who's 35 years old, travels all throughout the Padres' organization, from Fort Wayne to the Dominican Republic, rookie ball all the way to Triple-A. His previous mentor, Byrnes, has since moved on to the Dodgers organization, but Prior has moved up the San Diego organization and is now entrusted to oversee the development of their young arms.

Throughout several years of failures at the big league level, the Padres moved veterans out and acquired an infusion of young pitching. It's Prior's job to set pitch counts and innings limits, scout their development at each site and even travel as a roving pitching coach.

On this particular day, he was with the Fort Wayne Tincaps of the Midwestern League. Their pitching coach, Burt Hooton, was absent for pregame, so Prior had to take over. He led the pitching staff through their pregame meeting, presented the scouting report, then observed closely as Logan Allen, the Padres' No. 9 prospect, through a simulated game as part of his rehab process.

"He's one of the first people to rag on you, but he's also one of the first to discipline you," Allen said of Prior's style. "If you're doing something wrong, he's not going to beat around the bush -- he's going to tell you how it is and probably make you laugh in the process."

Prior's credentials precede him at each stop through the farm system. Padres minor league pitcher Jacob Nix remembers playing with Prior in video games growing up. Now, he's learning from the man.

Nix has his pitch counts set by Prior, and they're set low. The Padres are out to protect their prospects' arms, and Prior is in charge of ensuring this.

"My first, like, nine outings, I was on a 45-pitch count," Nix said. "I was pretty frustrated because I had some good ones going, all my stuff was working that day, and after four innings, you're done."

Nix is now at a 75-pitch limit for his games, something most Padres arms at that level are accustomed to. Of course, Nix is just 20 years old and a third-round pick in the 2015 draft. Allen was acquired by the Padres as the key return from a trade that sent closer Craig Kimbrel to the Red Sox. He's 19 and a vital asset to the organization's future.

This wasn't where Prior envisioned himself years ago. For perspective, he's two years younger than current Cubs rotation member John Lackey. It's conceivable Prior could've been in the Cubs' current rotation, helping the franchise toward World Series promise once again.

He doesn't think like that, though.

"I'm humbled more than anything," Prior said.

In short time, Prior has risen in the Padres organization. Byrnes first worked him through the logistics of baseball management, which included a trip to the 2013 winter meetings, shadowing on scouting assignments and showing him how the organization evaluates trades and prepares for the draft.

Prior confirmed everything Byrnes believed. There was greater potential for Prior.

"He took that to heart," Byrnes said. "I didn't want to put any limits on him."

Now in a more slender frame, Prior roamed the field for guidance. The Tincaps were preparing to play the Lansing Lugnuts, with whom Prior pitched two rehab outings in 2004.

Prior was in his element with the Tincaps' young pitchers. He helped Allen fine-tune in his motion in what's been a grueling rehab process, then he shared laughs as one of the guys.

Players instantly recognize Prior's passion for the job, seeing his eagerness to foster their improvement.

"He's a really good role model," Nix said.

What's ahead for Prior remains to be seen. In his current position, he sometimes coaches from the dugout, but his usual task consists of watching from the stands with a radar gun. When the day and/or out-of-town assignments are done, Prior reports back to San Diego. His word often dictates decisions for the Padres' pitching prospects.

Prior's authority with the Padres is of great importance and has increased in just three seasons.

It's possible that Prior could transition to the role of manager or pitching coach, though his expertise is vital in the front office. Perhaps he could follow the road toward becoming a general manager.

"As far as years and years to come, I don't know what next year's going to bring," Prior said. "Probably some of that is from my playing career, where I thought -- like everybody else -- I'd be playing for at least 10 years. But things didn't pan out. To me, I'm very happy with where I'm at. Things happen for a reason."

The sun rises again

While sitting behind home plate recently, scouting the Tincaps on a road trip to South Bend, Prior was joined by Moises Alou, who's an adviser in the Padres organization.

Sitting front and center at the home of the Cubs' Single-A affiliate brought many fans flocking in. Locked in a moment of infamy from 13 years ago, Prior and Alou are still good friends. Their paths often cross.

Fanfare still follows Prior with each stop of his new career. Whether it's a ballpark or airport, he's signing autographs and posing for pictures. His three children -- now ages 9, 8 and 6 -- have now become curious as to their father's fame. For his part, Prior savors his role in the lives of these passionate fans.

Back at the scene where Prior once dominated, Wrigley Field filled to capacity Sunday night as the first-place Cubs hosted the rival Cardinals in a primetime showdown. Bryant continued his tear, Rizzo hit a home run off the scoreboard in right field and more moments were added to what has been a storybook season.

Prior has seen many stops since the sun first rose on his Cubs career. There were countless hard times that only strengthened his resolve. While searching for closure to his playing career, Prior re-encountered a passion for baseball that he never expected.

The game is now taking him on a new path, which could lead toward a different kind of promise. Nobody knows an uncertain future quite like Prior, so he refuses to look ahead. He lives in the moment.

"One thing's for sure," he said. "I've confirmed that I enjoy being around the game."

Looking back on it all -- the sudden rise to stardom and startling fall from grace, Prior holds no regrets. He truly believes that fate is offering the best foot forward.

Well past that twilight of his debut 14 years ago, the sun is rising again along Prior's promising path.

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.