• Mark and his family were in the stands at Candlestick Park for Game 3 of the 1989 World Series when an earthquake rocked San Francisco.
• When Mark was a kid, his parents hung a framed picture of him between photos of Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. He begged them to take it down, certain that he didn't belong with such lofty company.
• Mark graduated from University City High School with the single-season records for strikeouts (110), ERA (0.93), home runs (15) and RBIs (58).
• Mark got to swing the bat only one year at USC. As a sophomore, he hit .242 in 33 at-bats. Four of his eight hits were home runs.
• Despite an injury-riddled campaign in 2005, Mark led the NL in K/IP.
• Mark has always felt it was a special honor to put on the Team USA uniform. One of the biggest thrills of his career was playing for the American squad on the Fourth of July.
• Mark enjoys golf, and says his game off the tee is much better than his feel on the green.
• As Mark walked to the plate in the first game after his debut at AAA Iowa—a victory in which he slammed two home runs—the Cubs played the theme song to "The Natural."
• Mark's 10 strikeouts in his first start for the Cubs were the most by a Chicago hurler in more than three decades.
• Mark and his wife, Heather, got married on November 15, 2003 in San Diego. The two have known each other since high school. They met in an AP Calculus class.

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