Mark Grant is likely one of the sport’s most entertaining colour analysts. Teamed with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, the person affectionately often known as “Mud” is a giant a part of why the San Diego Padres TV sales space polled as baseball’s finest in Terrible Asserting’s 2025 native broadcaster rankings. Now in his eleventh season alongside Orsillo, Grant first started working Padres video games in 1996. His earlier companions within the sales space embrace the legendary Dick Enberg.
Grant was a pitcher previous to changing into a broadcaster, toeing the rubber for six groups throughout the 1984-1993 seasons, together with the Padres, with whom he made 126 of his 233 appearances. All informed, he went 22-32 with eight saves and a 4.31 ERA over 638 2/3 innings.
How properly does he keep in mind his matchups in opposition to sure batters he confronted? As I’ve achieved beforehand with David Cone, Mark Gubicza, and Jeff Montgomery — these items might be discovered right here, right here, and right here — I made a decision to search out out by difficult him to a profession quiz. Not solely did he oblige, he provided enjoyable anecdotes alongside the best way.
I started by asking the pitcher-turned-broadcaster which batter he confronted probably the most instances.
“It must be Dale Murphy,” replied Grant, nailing the right reply nearly instantly. “He ought to be within the Corridor of Fame. Two-time MVP. Reverse-field pop. Knew the strike zone. Lots of people don’t know that he got here up as a catcher earlier than transitioning to the outfield. Actually good athlete. Nice man. I performed with him in Atlanta and he was a great teammate. Undoubtedly a risk on the plate. You needed to be actually cautious if you have been going through him.”
Knowledgeable that Murphy was additionally the batter that he logged probably the most strikeouts in opposition to, Grant responded, “Actually?” I proceeded to ask how he usually attacked the erstwhile Braves slugger.
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“You needed to pitch him in,” Grant replied. “That was a pitch he’d combat off. I threw him sliders, making an attempt to maintain them down and away. I used to be additionally cautious if I used to be making an attempt to find a fastball. I didn’t need to let him get prolonged; I attempted to get in on him a little bit bit.”
Murphy went 9-for-31 in opposition to Grant with one residence run, a pair of walks, and 7 strikeouts. One other outfielder had much more success in opposition to him. Not solely did he log probably the most hits in opposition to Grant, he was by no means set down of their matchups by means of the Ok. I requested Grant if he knew who that participant was, with out revealing the place.
“Barry Larkin involves thoughts,” Grant responded incorrectly, naming a participant who fanned as soon as and notched seven hits in opposition to him. “Lets’s see… possibly Eric Davis?”
It wasn’t Davis (9 hits), however relatively Andre Dawson, who went 12-for-21 with three residence runs.
“Andre Dawson was a man who struck worry into quite a lot of pitchers,” he mentioned of the Corridor of Famer. “I confronted him in my [Padres] debut after I was traded from the Giants in 1987. We have been at Wrigley. He hit two residence runs off of me; I hung sliders. One other man who favored to get prolonged, so that you needed to pitch him in. Actually good bat pace. It was off the charts. I couldn’t get him out.”
Tim Wallach had the second-most hits in opposition to Grant, going 10-for-20 with two doubles and a pair of residence runs.
“He stayed approach off the plate,” Grant mentioned of the five-time All-Star. “I assumed I may go fastballs away to him, and he would simply rifle them to right-center subject. That was his energy, as a result of he would dive. I discovered that you just needed to pitch him in, fastballs in, as a result of he would get jammed. Actually good third baseman, too. I used to be all the time a fan of him when he was with the Expos, after which the Dodgers. Yeah, a kind of guys who break up a niche to the alternative subject with the perfect of them.”
One other batter punished him to the tune of 4-for-5 with two residence runs and a stroll. I didn’t anticipate Grant to know who that was, however I used to be excited about what he recalled about Dan Driessen.
“I by no means would have guessed that,” admitted Grant. “He was with The Huge Purple Machine, proper? After which we have been teammates later with the Giants, towards the tip of his profession. He may hit. Anybody you confronted from The Huge Purple Machine was unimaginable.”
The batter he confronted probably the most instances with out giving up a success went 0-for-9 with three walks and 6 strikeouts. Grant was capable of title Jack Clark with out hesitation, though his recollections of the previous slugger have been sadly misplaced within the ether, because the recording app on my iPhone glitched a number of instances, leaving phrases unaccounted for. Additionally misplaced was our alternate on how Ricky Jordan grounded into 4 double performs in simply seven plate appearances in opposition to him, as have been his recollections of proudly owning former Friars shortstops Ozzie Smith (2-for-20) and Garry Templeton (0-for-9).
Fortuitously, an anecdote in regards to the aforementioned Eric Davis wasn’t misplaced. The previous Cincinnati Reds slugger took him deep 4 instances — probably the most residence runs he gave as much as a batter — whereas going an general 9-for-20 with 5 walks.
“I used to be in [Triple-A] Tucson, bought known as as much as the Astros, and the Reds have been on the town,” recalled Grant, who was with Houston for a part of the 1993 season, his final within the majors. “We have been taking part in within the Dome. Bob Cluck was our pitching coach, and after we went over their lineup in our pitchers’ assembly, he mentioned to me, ‘Hey Mud, you bought a second?’ I mentioned, ‘Yeah, certain.’ He goes, ‘If Eric Davis comes up, you most likely gained’t be going through him. Simply go away your glove beneath the bench.’”