Joseph Thomas Borowski (born May 4, 1971) is a sports broadcaster for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, as well as a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Career

High school career

Borowski grew up in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

, attended Marist High School and was an All-America selection in both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and a two-time All-State selection in both sports. He attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in New Jersey.

Major League Baseball career

Borowski was a 32nd round draft pick of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in 1989. In 2000, Borowski pitched in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

for the Monterrey Sultanes and in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. Before his second year with the Chicago Cubs in 2002, Borowski had never appeared in more than 25 games, but when given a chance to appear frequently he did very well. Between his stints with the Yankees and Cubs, he worked as a fireman. In 2002, he went 4-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 73 games of relief. The next year, he was converted to the closer role for the Cubs and was exceptional, going 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA and recording 33 saves in 37 opportunities, helping the Cubs win their division and reach the

NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...

before being eliminated by the eventual

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

champion Florida Marlins. In 2004, Borowski suffered from a partial tear in his right

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

which limited him to just 22 games, in which he struggled, going 2-4 with an 8.02 ERA and recording 9 saves in 11 opportunities. In 2005, Borowski broke his hand on a come-backer that went directly at him. He returned to the Cubs on May 20. He did not have his old closer job back, though, as

Ryan Dempster Ryan Scott Dempster (born May 3, 1977), is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox. Dempster batted and t ...

had emerged as the club's new closer. On June 29, 2005, Borowski was released by the Cubs. Borowski was later in 2005 acquired by the Devil Rays, who use him as a set-up man to closer

Danys Báez Danys Báez González (; ; born September 10, 1977) is a Cuban- American former professional baseball pitcher. Báez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Ba ...

. While with the Devil Rays, Borowski got very hot, pitching a franchise record 21 scoreless innings, and is seen by many as the catalyst for the Devil Rays 2nd half turnaround, as his inspired performance helped stabilize the Rays' otherwise shaky

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. However, in his last 14 appearances he gave up 15 runs, and was designated for assignment by the Devil Rays in early December, and then released. During the 2006 season, Borowski pitched for the Florida Marlins and converted 36 out of 43 save opportunities. On December 6, 2006, Borowski signed a $4.25 million, one-year contract to pitch for the Cleveland Indians that included a club option for 2008. The signing of Borowski filled the vacant closer role for Cleveland. During the 2007 season, Borowski got off to a slow start as closer for the Indians, posting an earned run average of 13.50 in his first seven outings. His struggles were capped off after surrendering six runs to the New York Yankees on April 19, 2007, in the ninth inning after coming into the game with a 4-run lead. Borowski was not charged with a blown save in this outing, since a 3-run lead or smaller is required for a pitcher to earn the save. He led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

with 45 saves, but had an of 5.07, which was the highest ever for a closer with 40 or more saves. On November 6, 2007, the Indians exercised his $4 million club option, opting to bring him back in 2008. Had the team declined Borowski's option, he would have been paid a $250,000 buyout. In 2008, Borowski got off to a bad start to the season. Putting up an 18.00 ERA with two blown saves through 5 appearances, he averaged a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

, 2

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

, and 2 runs per appearance. Following another dreadful appearance in which he gave up 3 runs in inning on April 14 the Indians put him on the 15-day DL with a strained triceps. Borowski was designated for assignment by the Indians on July 4, and released on July 10, 2008. On February 24, 2009, Borowski announced his retirement.

Personal life

Borowski currently resides in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nic ...

, with his wife Tatum and two sons Blaze and Ty. He accepted an award in 2004 from the Polish American Police Association as a distinguished Polish-American.

Career

High school career

Major League Baseball career

Personal life

See also

References

External links