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Robert William (Rob) Mackowiak (pronounced "mah-KOH-vee-ack," born June 20, 1976 in Oak Lawn, Illinois) is a utility player in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Chicago White Sox. He bats left-handed but throws right-handed. Mackowiak has a wife, Jennifer, and a son, Garret, born May 28, 2004.

Rob Mackowiak grew up playing baseball for Oak Lawn Community High School in Oak Lawn, IL and then at Lake Central High School in St. John, IN, where he graduated in 1994. He continued his baseball career by playing for South Suburban Junior College in Illinois. Mackowiak was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 30th round of the 1995 amateur draft, but did not sign. In the following year's amateur draft, Mackowiak was drafted in the 53rd round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was signed by Pirates scout Bill Bryk.

In 1996, Mackowiak spent his first professional baseball season with the Bradenton Pirates. In 1997, Mackowiak moved on to the Erie SeaWolves, where he helped the team achieve a first-place finish. He ended up hitting the second-most doubles in the club for the season. Mackowiak began the 1998 season with Single A Pirates affiliate Augusta, before moving over to the Lynchburg Hillcats, also a Single A ballclub. He finished the season hitting .268 with four homers and 39 RBI in 111 games with the two clubs. He was also ranked second in the Lynchburg club in triples. 1999 was another split season for the rising Mackowiak. Whereas he started the season in Lynchburg, he was promoted to the Altoona Curve where he hit safely in 15 of his first 17 games. His production fell off towards the end of the season, in which he batted a mere .208 in his final 36 games. Mackowiak spent his entire 2000 season with Double A Altoona. Mackowiak had a good season, setting some career highs in the offensive categories. Mackowiak had no set position for the club, so he acted as a basic utilityman. He made 71 appearances at second base, 38 in right field, 23 at third base, two at shortstop and one in left field for Altoona that season. Mackowiak was also given Player of the Month honors for the Altoona club in May. In 2001, Mackowiak was promoted to Triple-A, playing for the Nashville Sounds where he improved his game and excelled on the field.

It was no surprise that the Pittsburgh Pirates bought Mackowiak's contract on May 18, 2001. Mackowiak's major league debut was at second base the next day against Milwaukee, where he went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk. Mackowiak's first major league home-run came off of Florida's Braden Looper at PNC Park on May 30. 2002 was Mackowiak's first full season in the majors, in which he served as a utilityman, playing 5 different positions over the course of the season. 2003 saw Mackowiak's second Opening Day start for the Pirates organization, and continuing his jack-of-all-trades status at the club, appeared at five different positions in his first 10 games (RF, CF, LF, 2B & 3B). Mackowiak had registered just one hit in 21 at bats (.048 batting average) before being optioned to Triple-A Nashville on June 8, 2003. Mackowiak was recalled by Pittsburgh on August 19, and proceeded to post a career-high four hits in his return to the Pirates line-up on August 20, against the St. Louis Cardinals. The next season, Mackowiak set career highs in many offensive categories, such as a career high of 17 home runs and 75 RBI's. In one particularly special game, Mackowiak hit a walkoff grand slam against Joe Borowski to win the first of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, approximately nine hours after Mackowiak received news of the birth of his son, Garret. In the second game of the doubleheader, he hit the game-tying home run in the 9th inning. He now serves as one of the better bench players in baseball for the Chicago White Sox.

• Official Pittsburgh Pirates biography

• Baseball reference statistics