Mark Prior (2015) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Mark Prior

Induction:
2015
Class:
2001

Mark Prior was one of the most dominating pitchers in college baseball history. The muscular righthander won 25 games and averaged 11.5 strikeouts with just 2.1 walks per nine innings in his 2-year (2000-01) Trojan career. In 2001, he was only the second collegian ever to sweep every National Player of the Year award and was the first Trojan to win the Golden Spikes Award while going 15-1 with a 1.69 ERA (team bests for wins and ERA) and notching a Pac-10 record 202 strikeouts with just 18 walks. He helped USC to College World Series trips both of his seasons. After spending 2000 playing at Vanderbilt, he transferred to USC and led the Trojans in strikeouts and innings pitched in 2000 and 2001. In 2016, he was named the Pac-12 All-Century Pitcher of the Year. The Chicago Cubs made him the No. 2 overall pick of the 2001 MLB Draft and he pitched for them for five seasons (2002-06), including being named to the 2003 All-Star team, and then spent time in the minors before the toll of various arm and shoulder injuries ended his career in 2013. He then worked on the San Diego Padres’ baseball operations staff and as its minor league pitching coordinator before becoming the bullpen coach and then pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers (winning several World Series).