He’s the only person who played high school, college and professional baseball in the state of Colorado. After graduating from Northglenn High School, a suburb north of Denver, Mark Knudson went straight up I-25 to Colorado State University where he majored in journalism and pitched for a baseball program that was dissolved a decade after Mark left for the pros.
Mark was drafted by the Astros in 1982 and credits his college ball for giving him a fast track to the majors: he debuted in single A and just 3 years later, he made his MLB debut. In 1986, Mark was traded to the Brewers which stung, but he made the most of it and became their Opening Day starter in 1991. Unfortunately, the next day he came down with a virus and was never the same that year. He was sent to their AAA team (the Denver Zephyrs) where he helped win a championship and then was released when the Brewers weren’t going to bring him back to the show.
Mark kept a home in the Denver area while he was playing and in the early 90’s was “enlisted” to be a spokesperson to help bring Major League Baseball to Denver. In his final year in the pros, Mark played for that team and was the first Colorado born player to be on the Rockies roster.
The day after Mark retired, his wife had triplets and they would later add another daughter. In retirement, he’s worked in numerous mediums in journalism and continues to do so between writing, radio and podcasting. He’s also a high school baseball coach for Prospect Ridge Academy in Broomfield.
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