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JockBio
Vital Stats |
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Chicago White Sox |
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Pitcher |
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#56 |
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Height: 6' 2" |
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Weight: 220 |
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Born: 3/23/79 |
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- Mark’s 2007
no-hitter was the first one for a White Sox pitcher at home since Joel
Horlen 40 years earlier.
- In 2006, Mark
became the first pitcher in team history to make 30-plus starts in six
straight seasons.
- Mark led the A.L.
with 10 pickoffs in 2006. Opponents stole just four bases in 11 attempts
against him.
- During the 1999
Junior College playoffs, Mark faced Albert Pujols of Maple Woods College.
Pujols drove a two-run homer the other way, but Jefferson won the game.
- Mark was issued
number 56 when he was a non-roster invitee to spring training in 2000.
He decided to keep the number. He had worn 39 in high school and college,
because it was Todd Worrell's number.
- Mark was named
Southern League Pitcher of the Year in 2000.
- Mark would have
been the hands-down pick for Rookie of the Year in 2001, but he had
pitched one and a third too many innings for Chicago the year before.
- Mark would have
won 20 games in 2002, but a two-out error in his final start cost him
the decision.
- Mark learned how
good Hideki Matsui was before any other pitcher in the American League.
During a post-season tour of Japan in 2002, Matsui lined a ball off
his pitching shoulder.
- In a 2004 game
against the Indians, Mark pitched a two-hitter with two double plays,
facing the minimum 27 batters.
- In 2004, Mark became
the first White Sox pitcher to lead the league in innings pitched since
Wilbur Wood.
- Mark's streak of
49 straight six-inning starts, which ended in 2005, was the longest
since Steve Carlton's 69 from 1979 to 1982.
- In 2005, Mark accused
the Texas Rangers of stealing his signs and flashing his pitches on
the scoreboard.
- Mark says if there's
one old-timer he could watch in person, it would be Babe Ruth.
- Mark was an excellent
soccer player. He made All-State as a senior in high school.
- Mark's favorite
movie is The Shawshank Redemption.
- In 2005, Mark became
engaged to Jamie Streck. An avid hunter, he proposed to her in a tree
stand. The two had gone to the same high school, but Mark says that
he was small and always getting stuffed into lockers, so she probably
didn't notice him.
- Mark's high school
coach claims he was cut as a freshman and sophomore by new assistant
coaches.
- Mark's nickname
is “Chinstrap.”
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Hideki Matsui, 2003
New York Post
Steve Carlton, 1979
Hostess
Wilbur Wood, 1968
Topps
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