In the spring of 1988 a light hitting first baseman with the number 53 impressed general manager Jim Frey and manager Don Zimmer enough to earn a roster spot. It was a bit of a controversial thought at the time, with the Chicago Cubs high priced first baseman, Leon Durham manning first, but Mark Eugene Grace lived up to the challenge.
Gracie had always been a fan favorite, because of a screaming liner to the gap, his pretty eyes, or the possibility that you’d see him out at a local watering hole after a game and would be more than willing to buy you (and everyone else) a beer. Heck, MarkGrace.com describes his career as follows.
For 16 seasons, Mark Grace brought enthusiasm, humor and amazing talent to the game of baseball. As a Chicago Cub, Mark led his team on the field and in the hearts of its fans from his rookie season in 1988 through the end of the 2000 season. His thirteen seasons playing for the Cubs established him as one of the game’s “good guys” with a throwback style of getting his uniform dirty and having fun on and off the field. He led the major leagues in hits during the decade of the 1990s. With the Arizona Diamondbacks, Mark won a World Series ring in 2001 and played three season before retiring after the 2003 season.
That is what got Mark into trouble, whether it being in the form of his “slump-buster” or his perplexity of having fun off the field, which eventually lead to multiple DUI’s.
Grace, like many celebrities, thought he was unbreakable and above the law. Now he wasn’t a bad person by any stretch. There were no assumptions of drug abuse, treating others poorly, or worse – but his urge to stay out all hours drinking, then making the bad decision to drive was his undoing. After his second Arizona DUI, he had hit rock bottom.
After Mark’s first DUI in 2011, his license was suspended and the court ordered that his vehicles be equipped with an interlock device. When he was pulled over on August 23rd of 2012, he was arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, and operating a vehicle without an interlock device.
Not only was Mark sentanced to serve four months in Arizona’s tent city, an outside jailhouse which has websites devoted to how to make it through the jail and Arizona’s 110 plus degree heat, but he lost his job in the Diamondbacks’ broadcast booth. Having the game he loves so much taken away from him on his own accord, Grace, more power to him, used this as an eye opener.
“The good thing is it’s over with,” Grace said while he was with Arizona’s single A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops. “I’ve paid my debt to society. I’ve paid my debt to the people of Arizona and I’ve paid my debt to myself.
“It might be a disguised blessing. It got me an opportunity to get back on the field. Thank God for the Diamondbacks for having my back on this and offering me the opportunity. Now it’s a whole new baseball life again. It’s awesome.”
Grace took that opportunity and flourished, working his way back to the majors, this time as a hitting coach in the Diamondbacks’ organization. Mark made his mark with the Diamondbacks’ class-A Hillsboro Hops, and was promoted to assistant hitting coach of the Diamindbacks at the end of the 2014 season. Having hit the bottom, this opportunity seems like a chance he’s not going to let lose.
“I paid my debt to Arizona, to society,” he said. “It’s over with, thankfully, and the lesson was learned. That’s a chapter I had to teach my (two) sons about.
“I was getting pretty careless, reckless; now I’m not. I understand I’m not bulletproof and that when you do these things there are consequences. Be accountable. And don’t (expletive) do it again.”
It seems like Mark has finally beat his demon, which is great to hear for the former Cubs great and 90’s hit leader. If there was anything that would ever lead Grace back on course it would be baseball, and that seems to be true so far. While Mark’s face is a little more weathered, something you’d expect of a 51-year old man, he will never be the straight laced type, and his love for the game and childlike exuberance is still very apparent when you see him around a diamond and the rest of “the guys.”
“I don’t think Gracie’s ever going to change. There’s still a 9-year-old boy inside that mind,” longtime friend Rick Sutcliffe said. “He is doing what he loves. He’s a lifer, he’s a gamer. He loved playing every day and he loves being around the big leagues every day.”
While Mark has kept a home in Arizona for years, and won a World Series while with the Diamondbacks, he still has a soft spot in his heart for the organization he was brought up in.
“If they had made the World Series (last year), I was coming,” he said. “Kris Bryant(No. 17) is such a good player. (Anthony) Rizzo too. My number and my position are well taken care of.”
That they are Gracie, and if the Cubs find themselves in a World Series in the foreseeable future, there’s a seat for you.
