Former All-Star Mark Grace a 'model' inmate

Mark Grace, announcing his retirement from the Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball on Sept. 26, 2003, could face jail time if convicted for DUI. / Roy Dabner, AP

Former slugger Mark Grace is serving his jail sentence for a driving-under-the-influence conviction the way his fans might expect: as a model inmate who exceeds expectations, according to the (Phoenix) Maricopa County Sheriff's Department.

"It is my understanding Mark is a 'model' inmate and does a lot of volunteering with cleanup and other activities," MCSO spokesman Joaquin Enriquez said Monday. "He is looked up to by other inmates at Tent City."

Grace, of Scottsdale, has about six weeks left of his four-month sentence, which began Feb. 10 and ends June 10.

He stays in Tent City from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. During the day, he works as an Arizona Diamondbacks minor-league hitting instructor at Salt River Fields on the Salt River Reservation.

"He is now beginning his new chapter as a uniformed coach on the field, and I am thrilled for him and us," Derrick Hall, Diamondbacks president and CEO, said Monday.

"He is full time and will be with us long after June 10 (when his sentence ends)," Hall said. "When the Arizona Summer League begins, he will be our hitting coach for that team."

After Grace was pulled over in August in Scottsdale for his second DUI arrest in 15 months, the Diamondbacks fired him from his role as team broadcaster.

Grace was later rehired as a minor-league coach and instructor, beginning his new job on Feb. 11.

He originally faced four aggravated DUI charges, which would have carried a minimum of a year in prison, but pleaded guilty in January to reduced charges.

Extended spring training at Salt River Fields runs through early June and is open to the public, according to Josh Rawitch, a team spokesman.

Laurie Merrill writes for the Arizona Republic

http://www.rgj.com/usatoday/article/2124099