Mark Znidar comes to Press Pros Magazine after 33 ½ years at The Columbus Dispatch. From 1996 until September 2018, he staffed high school sports, Ohio colleges that included the Mid-American Conference, Ohio State’s upcoming opponents in football and Ohio State baseball. In the previous three seasons he covered the Columbus Clippers triple-A baseball team.
His other beats were Ohio State basketball (1985-88), Clippers (1985-86 and 1989-93), Cincinnati Bengals (1993-95) and NASCAR (1994-2008). He subbed on the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ohio State women’s basketball beats.
In March 2017, Znidar was inducted into the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
Znidar was born in Cleveland and raised in Richmond Heights. He graduated from Cleveland St. Joseph High School and the University of Dayton. He also worked for The Atlantic City Press, Lake County News-Herald and Baltimore News-American.
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have signed infielder/outfielder
Jurickson Profar to a three-year contract through the 2023 season which includes player options following both the 2021 and 2022 seasons and a mutual option for 2024, Executive Vice President/General Manager
A.J. Preller announced today.
Profar, 27, set career highs in AVG (.278) and OBP (.343) with the Padres last season, posting six doubles, seven home runs, 25 RBI and 28 runs scored in 56 games played. The switch-hitter was successful in seven of his eight stolen base attempts (88%) in 2020 and is now 26-for-28 (93%) over the last three seasons, the second-highest conversion rate in the majors over that span (min. 25 attempts). Last year, Profar committed just one error in 104 total chances (.990 fielding %), making 36 appearances in left field, 17 at second base, two in right field, one in center field and one at first base.
Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Norwin’s Alex Gabauer jumps over Penn-Trafford’s Bobby Lane during a rundown in 2019.
No high school baseball season last spring only served to motivate players like Alex Gabauer, a slick-fielding, power-hitting shortstop at Norwin.
The senior has committed to play at Penn, so his college future is secure as secure as it can be during the covid-19 pandemic.
But baseball can lead prospects down meandering paths and take them to places they’ve only dreamed about.
College usually is the sure thing. But there is always that flickering hope to play at the next level. The Bigs. The Show. The Majors.