Mark Gubicza

Mark Steven Gubicza

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
• High School William Penn Charter School
• Debut April 6, 1984
• Final Game April 11, 1997
• Born August 14, 1962 in Philadelphia, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mark Gubicza was signed as a 2nd round pick in the 1981 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals and scouts Earl Rapp and Tom Ferrick. Gubicza was a hard throwing right-hander who fired a 93-mph fastball and 90-mph slider that often cut in on batters' hands. While wildness was his early nemesis, endurance was his larger enemy, and the 6' 5" pitcher was placed on the disabled list for extensive stints throughout his career. Pain in his shoulder and arm from excess strain eventually caused him to walk away from baseball just before the 1998 season.

Mark spent 17 seasons in professional baseball, 1981 through 1997. He spent all or parts of 5 seasons in the minors where he got his start with the GCL Royals Gold of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1981. He showed well his first year out as he went 8-1 with a 2.25 ERA.

Brought up for the season with the Royals in 1984, Gubicza struggled with control for his first couple of years in the bigs. However, under the tutelage of Royals pitching coach Frank Funk, he began to harness his pitches, dropping a couple of miles per hour off his fastball in exchange for better control. He soon emerged from the shadows of Bret Saberhagen to give the Royals one of the best pitching tandems in baseball.

Equipped with an improved change-up and slider by 1988, Gubicza became the ace of the Royals' staff, when he went 20-8 with a 2.70 ERA. He made the All-Star Game that year and capped off an excellent season with a 3-0 two-hitter against the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics in September. Many felt he was robbed of a Gold Glove that year, after he handled 74 chances with only one error.

In 1989, Gubicza again had a respectable year, going 15-11 with a 3.04 ERA, and was selected to the All-Star Game for a second time. But it was that year that shoulder and arm injuries began to plague the big right-hander. The next year, 1990, he went on the DL in mid-June and had surgery two months later.

The constant stress that Gubicza placed on his arm severely depleted his strength and stamina. Relying on fastballs and hard sliders to overpower his opponents caught up with him, and he spent the next three years on and off the disabled list. He only reached the 200-inning mark one more time, in 1995, when he went 12-14 while tallying an adequate 3.75 ERA. Due to injuries, this would be the only time in the 1990s he would achieve double-digit wins.

Gubicza stayed with the Royals through 1996, becoming the Royals' last tie to their 1985 World Series team. On May 4th, he notched his 1,325th strikeout, becoming the all-time Royals leader in Ks. Later that year, Paul Molitor lined a shot up the middle off his tibia; this ended his season and his tenure with the Royals, who traded him with pitcher Mike Bovee to the Anaheim Angels for Chili Davis after the season.

Gubicza was limited to just two starts with the Angels in 1997 before he underwent arthroscopic surgery for his right shoulder, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. In January of 1998, Gubicza signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but with pain lingering in his shoulder the veteran pitcher decided to call it quits a month later.

The two most similar players through 2006, according to the similarity scores method, are Dick Ruthven and Mike Krukow. He is a member of the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame.

His father, Anthony F. Gubicza, was a minor league pitcher in 1950-1951.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time AL All-Star (1988 & 1989)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1988 & 1989)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1988)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1987-1989 & 1995)
• Won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 1985 (he did not play in the World Series)

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Library.com
SABR MILB Database:page

Related Sites

• Mark Gubicza at the SABR Bio Project