Bio

A veteran of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, Mark Sweeney is an MLB analyst for FS1 performing pregame and postgame analyst duties for the network’s presentation of regular-season MLB contests.

A native of suburban Boston and two-sport star at Holliston High School, Sweeney accepted a football scholarship to the University of Maine after leading the Panthers to the state championship his senior year. Once on campus however, he elected to give up football and pursue baseball full-time. Over the next four years, he went on to rewrite the Maine baseball program’s record books, helping the Black Bears to back-to-back America East/North Atlantic Conference titles and repeat NCAA Regional Tournament appearances in 1990 and 1991. Sweeney earned America East/NAC Player of the Year honors in 1991 when he batted .384 and set single-season school records for home runs (23), RBI (80), walks (54), runs (77) and total bases (178). Following the season, he was also named a finalist for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the nation’s best player. He remains the school’s all-time leader in 21 statistical categories, was voted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and saw his jersey No. 12 retired by the baseball program in 2013.

Following his fantastic four years at Maine, Sweeney was selected by the California Angels in the ninth round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. He played four seasons in the minor leagues before making his MLB debut in 1995 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Sweeney would go on to play 14 seasons in the majors, spending time with seven different clubs. He established himself as a competent role player with an exceptional knack for pinch hitting, finishing his career with the major-league record for pinch-hit RBI (#), in addition to ranking second all-time with 175 career pinch hits. He was a member of three playoff teams, including the 1998 San Diego Padres, who won the National League pennant and earned a berth in the World Series. Sweeney retired following the 2008 season, having appeared in 1,218 career games, registering 464 hits, 42 home runs, 250 RBI and a lifetime .347 on-base percentage.

In the immediate aftermath of his retirement, Sweeney joined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as an assistant coach, spending a year in that role before joining the front office as a special assistant to general manager Ned Colletti. In 2012, he made his first foray into television, signing on with FOX Sports San Diego. For FSSD, Sweeney serves as both a pregame and postgame analyst, and also makes appearances in the broadcast booth as a color analyst during the season. Having gained valuable television experience with the regional sports network, he furthered his footprint within the FOX family in 2014, joining FS1 as a studio analyst. He resides in San Diego with his wife, Cindy, and the couple has two daughters, Jaden and Kendall, and a son, Gavin.