I'm Mark Portugal's biggest fan and I love his story so much I'd like to share it here.
Mark grew up one of eight children in southern California. He graduated Norwalk High School in 1980 and pretty much had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He played baseball on a Pony league for one last summer before he had to get serious and commit to finding what he was going to do with his life. He was thinking about joining the Navy until one day when major league scouts were at one of his games (to check out the guys on the other team) and Mark caught their eye. He was a catcher and outfielder back then and pitched sometimes. He also had a pretty good bat. Ironiclly. he only played one season of baseball in high school because when a "game" was taken too seriously, he didn't like it. It was a game and it was for fun. He never imagined how much his life would change one day when he was offered a tryout with the Minnesota Twins. At 18 years old he was on a plane to spring training. It was a big turning point for Mark as it was the begining of an amazing career. A career for a kid from a suburb of Los Angeles who grew up playing the game but never imagined he could make a career out of it. He started out playing rookie ball with Elizabethton quickly moved through the minors getting called up to the majors on August 15, 1985. Not bad. He made the opening day rotation in 1987 and from then on his career took off. He played for the Twins, Astros, Giants, Reds, Phillies and Red Sox in his 18 year career. He was one of the great change up pitchers in the game. His career year was 1993 when he went 18-4 with a 2.77 ERA. In 1994 he won the Silver Slugger award for being the best hitting pitcher. His career ended when the Red Sox released him in September 1999. During the 1999 season he almost retired to spend more time with his children. He decided to continue to play but struggled most of the season. He also was given a chance in 2000 to compete for the 5th starter's job with the Reds. I collect all his cards and memorabilia and I like to sponsor his pages on various sites. He is an insiration to me as he has shown dreams do come true. His story is touching because I know he is a very sweet,loving father to his children and a wonderful son who loves and adores his parents. He made his "mark" in baseball, he lived a dream and he played with heart every 5 days when he was given the ball. He had very strong feelings about the way the game should be played and for that I hope to see him again in baseball somewhere. He is my true hero and I'm so proud to be his greatest fan.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
