Mark Bomback: Early 1980's Mets Pitcher (1980)

Mark Vincent Bomback was born on April 14, 1953 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The five eleven right hander known as “Bomber” was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 25th round of the 1971 draft.

By 1973 he was pitching at the AAA level at Pawtucket. But although Bomback would win in double figures six times he remained in the minors through the 1979 season.

In 1977 he was released by the Red Sox & got signed by the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He had made just two brief appearances in 1978 with the Brewers pitching two innings.

In 1979 he had his best pro season at AAA Vancouver, where he was the Pacific Coast League’s MVP, going 22-7 with a 2.56 ERA, allowing just three HRs in 246 innings pitched. For some reason the Brewers still weren’t interested & they traded him to the New York Mets for Dwight Bernard.

Bomback debuted as a Met on April 12th 1980 finishing up a 6-3 Mets loss to the Chicago Cubs. The Mets were in need of starters & put Bomback right into their starting rotation by the end of April. He earned his first win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium in a 3-2 Mets victory.

In his second start he pitched a two hit 2-0 shutout against the Phillies,a week later at Shea Stadium. In the game he allowed six walks & just two singles one to Mike Schmidt & the other to Gary Maddox.

By the end of May he was 3-0 and in June won back to back starts on a road trip to Chicago & Los Angeles, making him 5-1.

He was used occasionally in relief as well becoming one of the most reliable pitchers on the starting staff. On July 13th he pitched a complete game against the Cardinals at Shea Stadium getting him to 6-2. He was 9-3 by August but a 1-5 finish to the year set him back.

In any event he led the weak staff in wins (10) going 10-8. His eight losses were the least amongst the main starting pitchers. He made 38 appearances with 25 starts, coming in third on the staff in ERA (4.09) & innings pitched (162). He allowed 17 HRs & only struck out 68 batters while walking 49.

At the start of the 1981 season the Mets traded Bomback to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later, who turned out to be Charlie Puleo.

Post Mets Career: In Toronto he was 3-5 with a 4.46 ERA in June when he was back down to the minor leagues. He returned for a September call up later that year. The next season he was 1-5 with a 6.02 ERA & was sent down to the minors in late July.


Bomback never returned to the majors but continued pitching for years to come. He would pitch in the minors, senior professional leagues & semi pro ball up until the year 2000 when he was 47 years old.


In his four season career he was 16-18 with a 4.47 ERA. He had 124 strike outs with 110 walks in 314 innings pitched over 74 games.

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