University Southern California Trojans
Great Expectations: Prior Set for Cubs' Debut
May 22, 2002 | Baseball
May 22, 2002
With AP Photos
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - If Mark Prior had any doubts about the frenzy awaiting him, they were gone as soon as he walked into the Chicago Cubs clubhouse.
There, taped on a board for everyone to see, was a newspaper headline screaming, "The Can't-Miss Kid." As if that wasn't enough, pictures of Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson surrounded one of the rookie right-hander.
"I'm not here to try to do anything special," the 21-year-old Prior said Tuesday. "Like I said, I got called up to do one thing and that's just do what I've been doing."
That's what's causing all the furor, though. Dubbed one of the best college pitchers ever last year, Prior has had a meteoric rise since the Cubs made him the No. 2 pick in last June's amateur draft.
After signing a $10.5 million contract with Chicago, he went back to Southern California and continued working on the business degree he's a semester away from getting.
He came to spring training not having pitched since the College World Series, yet dazzled the Cubs and their opponents with his potential.
"I was impressed by him as any young pitcher I've ever seen," veteran Cubs catcher Joe Girardi said. "His stuff, his work ethic, his humility, his fundamentals - he's very sound. He was very polished."
Starting the season in Double-A West Tenn, Prior tore through the minor leagues. He went 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA in nine games at Double- and Triple-A, striking out 79 while walking only 18.
In his debut at Triple-A Iowa, he struck out 10 and gave up only an unearned run. He also homered twice, drawing curtain calls from the fans.
"It's unfair to expect he'll dominate in the major leagues the way he's dominated in the minor leagues," Andy MacPhail, the Cubs president and general manager, said Saturday after announcing Prior's promotion.
"But it's pretty evident that he's ready, and it's pretty evident that we can use him here."
One look at Chicago's record is enough to see that. Despite picking up Moises Alou in the offseason and having Fred McGriff from the start, the Cubs are in their lovable loser mode once more.
They were 15-28 after splitting a doubleheader with the Pirates on Tuesday, 11 games out in the NL Central. They snapped a nine-game losing streak - their longest since 1997 - on Sunday. And they're 7-15 at Wrigley Field, hardly the Friendly Confines these days.
They're having trouble hitting - Alou is scuffling along at .159 and McGriff at .220 - and their pitching isn't a whole lot better. Defense is a problem, too.
"We're (not) going to roll off 15 in a row just because Prior showed up," said Kerry Wood, one of the few Cubs not struggling. "But it gives us - and the fans - something else to look forward to. And he's got great stuff."
But for as much as the Cubs try and temper Prior's arrival, the hype is already huge. Camera crews filmed his every move Tuesday, following him even as he walked down the steps into the dugout.
The Cubs, after all, haven't won a World Series since 1908, struggling for the better part of a century. Any sliver of hope is grabbed tight and squeezed until it chokes - or leaves for another team.
"If you let it get to that point, it can be," said Wood, who got a taste of that suffocating pressure in 1998, when he tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts in his fifth start.
"But like I said, when I came up, it was baseball first and everything else second. That's the way I handled it."
If anyone is equipped to handle it, it's Prior. He acts years older than 21, and has been through the media circus at USC. So he already has an idea of what to expect and how to handle it.
Prior was 15-1 with a 1.69 ERA last year at USC and won the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.
He doesn't read his clippings, and he still can't help but smile when he talks about how much fun he's having. His big plans for Tuesday night? Pick up his girlfriend at the airport.
"I wasn't looking from the outside in when I came up, but it looks like he's getting quite a bit more attention," Wood said. "But he's been getting it since he got drafted. I think he's gotten to the point where he's used to the attention. I don't think the pressure is going to get to him."
