Mark Andrew Grant (born October 24, 1963), nicknamed "Mud", is an American former professional

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

and is the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Career

Grant was a first-round pick by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the

1981 Major League Baseball draft The 1981 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1981. The draft saw the Seattle Mariners select Mike Moore (baseball), Mike Moore first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Ba ...

. Grant played for the Giants from through , when he was traded to the San Diego Padres. Grant played for the Padres through where he was again dealt to the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

for

Derek Lilliquist Derek Jansen Lilliquist (born February 20, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and pitching coach. He played for the Atlanta Braves (1989–1990), San Diego Padres (1990–1991), Cleveland Indians (1992–1994), Bost ...

. In the off-season, he signed with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

to a one-year deal. In , he signed to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. The same season on May 20, he was sent to the expansion team

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

for Braulio Castillo. He was released from the club just two months later, and signed with the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

on August 20. In 1994, he took a break from baseball to host a talk radio show for KFMB-AM along with broadcasting Padres games for the station. Grant returned to baseball in when he pitched for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

AAA affiliate

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. In he briefly played for

CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

and officially retired from baseball after leaving the Lions.

Broadcasting

In 1996, Grant began working in the Padres' TV broadcast booth for Prime Sports Network. In 1997, Mark began his 15 year run with Channel 4 San Diego, teaming with a variety of partners including

Mel Proctor Mel Proctor (born 1946) is an American television sportscaster, actor, and author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, Sa ...

and

Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian (né Vasgerdsian; '; September 28, 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is the alternative play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major Leagu ...

. In 2012, he moved to the new regional television network Fox Sports San Diego (now Bally Sports San Diego), where he continued to provide color commentary with famed play-by-play announcer Dick Enberg until the latter's retirement after the 2016 season. His current main colleague is

Don Orsillo Don Orsillo (born December 16, 1968) is an American sportscaster who is the play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is also an announcer for '' MLB on TBS'' and ''MLB on Fox''. Orsillo was the play-by-p ...

. Grant's style of color commentary along with his humorous on-air antics have made "Mud" (a nickname given early in his playing career by Giants coach Danny Ozark in reference to Mudcat Grant) a favorite with Padres fans.

Personal life

Grant played highschool baseball for Joliet Catholic Academy in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

. Grant currently resides in

Alpine, California Alpine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County, California, United States. Alpine had a population of 14,696 at the 2020 census, up from 14,236 at the 2010 census. The town is largely surrounded by Cleve ...

, with his wife Mary, two sons, and a daughter. In 2007, he was honored by the Kiwanis Club of Alpine for his contributions to the community. He is also a frequent contributor to sports talk shows on XX Sports Radio in San Diego, as well as the Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw show on 101.5 KGB FM.

References

External links

Mark Grant Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Mark 1963 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan American television sports announcers Atlanta Braves players Calgary Cannons players Colorado Rockies players Houston Astros players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers People from Alpine, California Richmond Braves players San Francisco Giants players San Diego Padres announcers San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Joliet, Illinois Tucson Toros players Uni-President Lions players Vancouver Canadians players