Mark Grant is one of the game’s most exciting color analysts. Along with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, the man known as “Mud” is a big part of why the San Diego Padres’ telecast has been voted baseball’s best. Bad publicityEstimates of home broadcasters for 2025. Now in his 11th season with Orsillo, Grant started working games for the Padres in 1996. His previous partners in the booth include the legendary Dick Enberg.
Grant was a pitcher before becoming a broadcaster, hitting the rubber for six teams in the 1984-1993 seasons, including the Padres, with whom he played 126 of 233 games. Overall, he went 22-32 with eight saves and a 4.31 ERA over 638 2/3 innings.
How well do you remember his encounters with certain hitters he faced? As I’ve done before with David Cone, Mark Gubicza, and Jeff Montgomery – those pieces can be found here, here, and here – I decided to find out by challenging him with career questions. Not only did he take responsibility, he gave some interesting anecdotes along the way.
I started by asking the announcer-turned-pitcher which hitter he faced the most times.
“It would have to be Dale Murphy,” replied Grant, nailing the correct answer in no time. “He should be in the Hall of Fame. Two-time MVP. Opposite-field pop. He knows the strike zone. A lot of people don’t know he came up as a catcher before moving to the outfield. Really good athlete. Good guy. I played with him in Atlanta and he was a good teammate. He was definitely a threat at the plate. You really have to deal with him.”
Told that Murphy was the hitter who had landed the most strikes against him, Grant replied, “Really?” I went on to ask how he usually attacks the Braves slugger.
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“You should have included him,” Grant replied. “That was the pitch he was going to fight. I threw him sliders, trying to keep them down and away. I was also careful when I was trying to get a fastball. I didn’t want to let him get too wide; I tried to get him in a little bit.”
Murphy went 9 for 31 against Grant with one home run, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Another outfielder has had more success against him. Not only did he get a lot of hits against Grant, he wasn’t put down in their matchups in K’s style. I asked Grant if he knew the player, without revealing the position.
“Barry Larkin comes to mind,” Grant replied wryly, naming a player who had one hit and seven hits against him. “Let’s see… maybe Eric Davis?”
It wasn’t Davis (nine hits), but instead Andre Dawson, who went 12 for 21 with three home runs.
“Andre Dawson was a guy who put fear into a lot of bowls,” he said of the Hall of Fame. “I faced him in my life [Padres] My debut was when I was traded to the Giants in 1987. We were at Wrigley. He hit me two times; I hung up the slides. Another guy who liked to be stretched, so you had to put him in. Really good bat speed. It was off the charts. I couldn’t get him out.”
Tim Wallach had the most hits in the second against Grant, going 10 for 20 with a double and two home runs.
“He stayed away from the plate,” Grant said of the five-time All-Star. “I thought I might go to him fastballs, and he would just shoot them up the middle. That was his strength, because he would sink. I found out you had to put him in, fastballs, because he would jam. A really good third baseman, too. I was always a fan of his when he was with the Expos, and the Dodgers split between the best, yeah.”
Another hitter punished him to 4-for-5 with two home runs and a walk. I didn’t expect Grant to know who that was, but I was interested in what he remembered about Dan Driessen.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Grant admitted. “He was with The Big Red Machine, right? And then we had a partner later with the Giants, towards the end of his career. He could hit. Anyone he faced from The Big Red Machine was amazing.”
The batter he faced the most times without giving up a hit was 0-for-9 with three walks and six strikeouts. Grant was able to name Jack Clark without a doubt, though his memories of the former slugger were unfortunately lost in the ether, as the recording app on my iPhone misfired several times, leaving names unrecognizable. Also missing was our exchange on how Ricky Jordan went four games in just seven games against him, and his memories of owning former Friars shortstops Ozzie Smith (2-for-20) and Garry Templeton (0-for-9).
Fortunately, the anecdote about Eric Davis mentioned above was not lost. The former Cincinnati Reds slugger drove him four times — the most home runs he had given up to a batter — while going 9-for-20 overall with five walks.
“I was in the middle [Triple-A] Tucson, he was called up to the Astros, and the Reds were in town,” recalled Grant, who was with Houston for part of the 1993 season, his last in the majors. “We were playing in the Dome. Bob Cluck was our pitching coach, and after we went over their roster in our pitchers meeting, he said to me, ‘Hey Mud, got a second?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course.’ He goes, ‘If Eric Davis comes, you probably won’t face him. Just leave your glove under the bench.’”
