Mark Joseph Petkovsek (born November 18, 1965) is an American former 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 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) for the Texas Rangers,

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

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

Anaheim 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 ...

Biography

Petkovsek attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, where he threw a seven-inning no-hitter in March 1987. In 1985 and 1986, Petkovsek played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL). He compiled a 14–4 mark in the two seasons with Chatham, and in 2016 was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame. Petkovsek was a first-round pick of the Rangers in 1987, and in 1991, he made his major-league debut with the club, pitching 4 innings and taking the loss against the

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

. The Rangers granted him his free agency following the year, and he signed with Pittsburgh for 1992. He spent the year at AAA

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

, where he co-aced for the club with

Tim Wakefield Timothy Stephen Wakefield (August 2, 1966 – October 1, 2023) was an American professional baseball knuckleball pitcher. Wakefield began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year ...

. After Petkovsek appeared in 23 games for Pittsburgh in 1993, the Pirates let Petkovsek walk, and the right-hander signed with the

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 ...

for 1994. They assigned him to AAA

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, and he spent the entire year there. On May 16, 1994, Petkovsek threw the first nine-inning no-hitter in Tucson franchise history,Mark Petkovsek Throws the First Nine-Inning No-Hitter in Tucson Toros History
''The Arizona Daily Star''. Article published on May 16, 1994. Retrieved on May 8, 2016. beating the

Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado R ...

, 5–0, in his only

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

of the year. For his effort, Petkovsek was named PCL Pitcher of the Week. As had the Rangers and Pirates before them, the Astros granted Petkovsek his free agency after the 1994 season, and he found a home in the Cardinals organization, pitching at both AAA

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and for the major-league team in 1995. His 21 major league starts that year were a career high. He helped the Cardinals win the 1996

National League Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National Le ...

division title, winning 11 times against only two defeats as a

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term "swingman" (a.k.a. "wing" or "guard-forward") denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forward (3) positi ...

. The 11 wins he had for St. Louis were a career high, regardless of professional level.

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petkovsek, Mark 1965 births Living people American people of Slovenian descent Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Jefferson County, Texas Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charlotte Rangers players Chatham Anglers players Gulf Coast Rangers players Lake Elsinore Storm players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Texas Longhorns baseball players Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tucson Toros players Tulsa Drillers players 20th-century American sportsmen