Mark Steven Gubicza (/ˈɡʊbɪzə/; born August 14, 1962), nicknamed "Gubie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sportscaster.

Following his playing career, Gubicza became a sportscaster and worked in various roles before joining the Angels broadcast booth on Fox Sports West as a color commentator in 2007.

He is the son of Anthony Gubicza Jr., who pitched in the Chicago White Sox organization for three years and later served as a part-time coach for the Villanova Wildcats.

[2] Gubicza attended the William Penn Charter School where he was teammates with eventual professional player Rubén Amaro Jr.[7][8] Though he grew up in Philadelphia, he idolized Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer.

Gubicza and his father were present at Veterans Stadium for game six of the 1980 World Series, witnessing the Philadelphia Phillies win their first championship.

[10] He began his professional baseball career at age 18 with the Royals Gold in the Gulf Coast League, where he went 8-1 with a 2.25 earned run average (ERA) and 40 strikeouts in 56 innings.

Gubicza played for the Fort Myers Royals in the Florida State Class A League in 1982 and missed most of the season due to injuries.

Following a 3–0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on June 15 where he pitched 7+1⁄3 innings and gave up 2 earned runs, Gubicza dropped to a 3–6 record on the season.

[7] Despite being a member of the four-man rotation that helped the Royals win the American League Western division that year, Gubicza did not get a chance to pitch in the 1984 American League Championship Series because Kansas City was swept in three games by the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers team.

[14] For his sophomore season in 1985, Gubicza joined a five-man rotation alongside Bud Black, Danny Jackson, Charlie Leibrandt, and Bret Saberhagen.

Gubicza made his only career postseason appearances during the 1985 American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

[15] Following the 1985 season, the Royals considered trading Gubicza to the San Francisco Giants for Chili Davis in order to bolster the team's offense.

Kansas City's front office ultimately decided against it because San Francisco also wanted Darryl Motley and prospect Van Snider, a price that was seen as too high.

Gubicza finished third in voting for the 1988 American League Cy Young Award behind Frank Viola and Dennis Eckersley.

[7] In July, Gubicza and a team doctor decided that arthroscopic surgery was necessary for his injured right arm, effectively ending his season because the recovery timeframe was four to six months.

The team originally thought his arm had healed over the offseason, so he pitched with the lingering injury from April to late June 1990.

The Royals did not initially consider the discomfort to be a serious issue, but he was ultimately placed on the disabled list on July 15 because an examination found he had an inflamed synovial bursa.

[22] Dr. Lewis Yocum examined Gubicza's arm on August 24 and found that his bursa had healed but he still had weakness in his rotator cuff, keeping him off the mound for another month, therefore ending his season.

[7] On July 5, in a start against the Minnesota Twins at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Gubicza had to leave the game in the second inning after a batted ball hit by Paul Molitor broke his tibia.

The Angels made the trade to open the designated hitter spot for one of the team's four outfielders — Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, and Darin Erstad.

[30] Gubicza's early pitching was heavily influenced by his father, who had more time to coach his son due to an injury that prematurely ended his minor league baseball career.

In 1988, with the help of pitching coach Frank Funk, Gubicza loosened up his delivery, a change that delivered improved results.

Following his arthroscopic surgery in 1990, Gubicza decreased the usage of his fastball and favored breaking balls in order to manage pain in his throwing arm.

[35] Gubicza hosts a weekly segment called "Gubie Tuesdays" that is shown during games between a commercial break and the return to action on the field.

[36][37][38] Gubicza became known as a fastball pitcher in part due to his 6 ft 6 in, 215 lb (1.98 m, 97 kg) frame that helped him to develop a velocity above 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) as early as high school.

[7] Gubicza was also noted for his work ethic on the mound, with Royals general manager John Schuerholz describing him as having a "bulldog mentality.

[40] Gubicza called his induction a "tremendous honor" and former teammates John Wathan and Jeff Montgomery spoke about his career at the ceremony.

In August 2002, Gubicza was named the head baseball coach at Chaminade High School in West Hills, California, where he remained until 2007.

[46] Chaminade would sometimes play nearby Calabasas High School, a team that was coached by Gubicza's former Kansas City teammate Bret Saberhagen.