Mark Richard Knudson (born October 28, 1960) is an American former right-handed professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played all or part of eight seasons in

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), between 1985 and 1993, primarily for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Professional career

Houston Astros

Knudson was drafted by 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 ...

in the third round of the 1982 amateur draft out of

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

. He made his debut with the club on July 8, 1985, and took a 7–4 loss to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. He won his first major league game on July 10 of the following season, also against the Phillies. On August 15, 1986, he and fellow pitcher

Don August Donald Glenn August (born July 3, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and writer who played for the Milwaukee Brewers from to . He lived in Mission Viejo, California and graduated from Capistrano Valley High School. ...

were traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher

Danny Darwin Danny Wayne Darwin (born October 25, 1955), known as "the Bonham Bullet", is an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox ...

Milwaukee Brewers

Knudson pitched as both a starter and long reliever for Milwaukee over the next five seasons, and in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

compiled an 8–5 record with a 3.35

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. In 1990, he earned a career-best 10 wins. After starting and gaining the victory on Opening Day 1991 against the Texas Rangers, Knudson contracted a virus that seriously affected his performance. He came down with a 103-degree fever and lost 10 pounds. He missed most of that season and was sent to Triple-A Denver to finish the year, where he helped the Zephyrs win the American Association championship. He was designated for assignment at the end of the year; when he refused, the club released him outright.

Colorado Rockies

Knudson spent the 1992 season in 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. ...

organization before signing with the expansion

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 ...

in 1993. He only pitched briefly for the team, however. After struggling and posting a 22.24 ERA in just four appearances, he permanently retired from the game.

Personal life

One week after he retired, Knudson's wife gave birth to triplets. A native of Denver, Knudson was the first hometown product to play for the Rockies. During his career, Knudson posted wins over three of the four members of the 4,000 strikeout club,

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and also played ...

and

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...

. Since retiring, Knudson has worked for the Rockies in community relations, and began a career in sports media. He has written a syndicated newspaper column since 1994, and is also a radio and television broadcaster.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudson, Mark 1960 births Living people American people of Norwegian descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Denver Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Colorado State Rams baseball players Columbus Astros players Daytona Beach Astros players Denver Zephyrs players Houston Astros players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players 20th-century American sportsmen