Mark Thurmond helped Padres to Series, saw 8 ML seasons

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Mark Thurmond 1990 Baltimore Orioles baseball card

With 14 regular season wins in 1984, the Padres' Mark Thurmond helped his team to the playoffs and then to the World Series.

His reward: Starting World Series Game 1.

"It's gonna be fun," Thurmond told UPI ahead of the contest. "I'm gonna have a good time and enjoy the game. When you don't enjoy the game, you've got to get out of it. We like to play the game here."

Thurmond ended up not having the best of games, he took the loss. But Thurmond made there in his second major league season. He went on to see time in eight big league campaigns, and nearly throw a no-hitter.

Thurmond's career began in 1979, taken by the Padres in the fifth round of the draft out of Texas A&M University.

Thurmond started with the Padres at AA Amarillo. He spent three seasons there, then made AAA Hawaii in 1982.

In May 1983, he made San Diego. He saw 21 outings, 18 starts and went 7-3, with a 2.65 ERA. He then returned for 1984 and went 14-8 overall, with a 2.97 ERA in 32 outings, 29 starts.

That August in 1984, after a road win against the Braves, Thurmond told UPI he enjoyed pitching away from home.

"I like pitching on the road," Thurmond told UPI. "I like the people to pull against me. It makes me try a lot harder. I don't know why."

Thurmond saw 36 outings, 23 starts with San Diego in 1985, then another 17 outings, 15 starts to start 1986 with the Padres before being traded to the Tigers.

In late April 1986, Thurmond took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Cardinals, before settling for a complete game one-hitter.

"Obviously, I would have liked to have the no-hitter, but the guys made some great defensive plays as it was," Thurmond told reporters afterward. "It's nice to have some things fall your way one time."

With the Tigers that year, Thurmond saw 25 games, four starts. He then saw 48 relief outings in 1987 with Detroit, with a 4.23 ERA.

Thurmond played 1988 and 1989 with the Orioles, mostly in a relief role. He then started 1990 with the Astros and played at AAA Tucson before getting sent to the Giants.

He saw 43 final major league outings in San Francisco that year, then finished out his career in 1991 with AAA Phoenix.

Mark Thurmond 1990 Baltimore Orioles baseball card


1990 Minor League Tally 
Players/Coaches Featured:4,564
Made the Majors:1,445-31.7%-X
Never Made Majors:3,119-68.3%
5+ Seasons in the Majors:590-X
10+ Seasons in the Minors:361

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