Mark Connor
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Mark Peter Connor (born May 27, 1949 in Brooklyn, New York) is currently the pitching coach for the Texas Rangers. Before his coaching career, he was a minor league pitcher from 1971 through 1972 who batted and threw right handed.
Connor played two minor league seasons for the Minnesota Twins before his career was ended by an arm injury. He went 4-5 with a 2.78 ERA , three saves, and 57 strikeouts in 55 innings for the 1971 Auburn Twins. The following season, he posted a 5-2 record with a 3.83 ERA in 32 relief appearances for the Wisconsin Rapids Twins.
Following his playing career, Connor became the pitching coach at the University of Tennessee from 1974 to 1978 and served as the head coach in 1988 and 1999. He also coached in the major leagues for the New York Yankees (1984-1987, 1990-1992), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-2000) and Toronto Blue Jays (2001-2002) before joining Texas (2003). Under his guidance, Randy Johnson earned consecutive NL Cy Young Award honors in 1999 and 2000.
Connor served as the bullpen coach of the Rangers from 2003-2005, and became the team's pitching coach in 2006. At the end of the season, the team named Ron Washington as their new manager for the 2007 season. Washington will keep Connor as the pitching coach, as well hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. Former Oakland and Houston manager Art Howe is expected to join the staff as the bench coach.
