Robert William Mackowiak (; born June 20, 1976) 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 ...

player. During his

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 ...

career, he played for the

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 ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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. ...

, and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Personal life

Mackowiak was born on June 20, 1976, in

Oak Lawn, Illinois Oak Lawn is a Village (Illinois), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 58,362 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oak Lawn is a suburb of Chicago, located southwest of the city. It shares borders with the ...

. He grew up playing

for Oak Lawn Community High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois, and then at

Lake Central High School Lake Central High School (LCHS) is a high school in St. John, Indiana, for students in grades nine through twelve. Its students come from St. John Township which includes the towns of St. John and Dyer (generally north of 101st Ave), almost t ...

in St. John, Indiana, where he graduated in 1994. Mackowiak continued his baseball career by playing for South Suburban Junior College in Illinois.

Baseball career

Minor league career

Mackowiak was drafted by the

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

in the 30th round of the 1995 amateur draft, but did not sign. In the following year's amateur draft, he was drafted in the 53rd round by the

, and was signed by Pirates scout Bill Bryk. In , Mackowiak spent his first professional baseball season with the Bradenton Pirates. In , Mackowiak moved on to the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Ti ...

, where he helped the team achieve a first-place finish. He ended up hitting the second-most doubles on the club for the season. Mackowiak began the season with the Single-A Pirates affiliate, Augusta, before moving over to the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinn ...

, also a Single-A ballclub. He finished the season hitting .268 with four homers and 39 RBI in 111 games with the two clubs. He was also ranked second in the Lynchburg club in

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

. was another split season for the rising Mackowiak. Whereas he started the season in Lynchburg, he was promoted to the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of ...

where he hit safely in 15 of his first 17 games. His production fell off towards the end of the season, in which he batted a mere .208 in his final 36 games. Mackowiak spent his entire season with Double-A Altoona. He had a good season, setting some career highs in the offensive categories. Mackowiak had no set position for the club, so he acted as a basic utilityman. He made 71 appearances at

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

, 38 in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

, 23 at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, two at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, and one in

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

for Altoona that season. Mackowiak was also given Player of the Month honors for the Altoona club in May. In , Mackowiak was promoted to Triple-A, playing for the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

where he improved his game and excelled on the fields.

Major League career

2001-05, Pittsburgh Pirates

It was no surprise that the Pirates bought Mackowiak's contract on May 18, 2001. His Major League debut was at second base the next day against

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, where he went 0-for-3 with an

intentional walk In baseball, an intentional base on balls, usually referred to as an intentional walk and denoted in baseball scorekeeping by ''IBB'', is a walk issued to a batter by a pitcher with the intent of removing the batter's opportunity to swing at the ...

. Mackowiak's first Major League home run came off of Florida's Braden Looper at

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth location to serve as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Opened during the 2001 Major League Baseb ...

on May 30. was Mackowiak's first full season in the majors, in which he served as a utilityman, playing 5 different positions over the course of the season. saw Mackowiak's second Opening Day start for the Pirates organization, and continuing his jack-of-all-trades status at the club, appeared at five different positions in his first 10 games (RF, CF, LF, 2B & 3B). He registered just one hit in 21

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s (.048 batting average) before being optioned to Triple-A Nashville on June 8, 2003. Mackowiak was recalled by Pittsburgh in August, and proceeded to post a career-high four hits in his return to the Pirates line-up on August 20, against the

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 ...

. was Mackowiak's best season, as he set career highs in many offensive categories, such as a career high of 17 home runs and 75 RBI. He also had an extremely memorable double header against 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 ...

on May 28, hitting a walk-off grand slam in the first game and a game-tying ninth-inning home run in the second game, all on the same day that his son was born.

2006, Chicago White Sox

The season brought Mackowiak to the

. Mackowiak was excited about playing in Chicago because it was where he grew up and still had relatives. He played as number 10, continued his utility roles at all three outfield positions, third base, and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. At one point, he boasted an 11-game hitting streak. During the season, he gained his 500th career hit.

2007, Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres

Mackowiak started the season with the White Sox, starting 64 games and hitting .278. At the end of July, he was traded to the

for minor league pitching prospect Jon Link. He played in 28 games, and finished the year with a .263 average. At the end of the season, he underwent surgery for a double sports hernia.

2008, Washington National and Cincinnati Reds

In December 2007, Mackowiak signed with the

, but was released in June. He appeared in 38 games for the Nationals, hitting .132. Later in the month, he was signed by the

and sent to Triple-A

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 ...

2009, New York Mets

Mackowiak became a free agent at the end of the season and agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets on January 23, . He was released by the Mets on April 14.

Newark Bears

On May 8, 2009, Mackowiak signed with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. A month later, Cleveland signed him to play with AAA Columbus. After his release there, he rejoined the Bears in July and helped them to a playoff run, hitting .323.

Cleveland Indians

On June 6, 2009, Rob was signed by the

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 , the team ...

and reported to their AAA team, the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

. On July 7, the Clippers released him and he rejoined the Newark Bears to finish the 2009 season.

Windy City Thunderbolts

In 2010, the

Windy City ThunderBolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in Crestwood, Illinois. The ThunderBolts compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Midwest Division. The team is owned by Franchise Sports LLC, playing its home games ...

announced that Rob Mackowiak was hired as the team's hitting coach. The Windy City hitting coach job was Mackowiak's first coaching experience in professional baseball. Mackowiak came out of retirement in 2010 to be the starting 3rd baseman for the Windy City Thunderbolts. He played in 113 games batting .255 19 home runs and 77 RBIs.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackowiak, Rob 1976 births Living people Altoona Curve players American people of Polish descent Augusta GreenJackets players Baseball players from Chicago Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox players Columbus Clippers players Erie SeaWolves players Gulf Coast Pirates players Louisville Bats players Lynchburg Hillcats players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third basemen Nashville Sounds players Newark Bears players Pastora de los Llanos players Sportspeople from Oak Lawn, Illinois Pittsburgh Pirates players San Diego Padres players South Suburban Bulldogs baseball players Washington Nationals players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela