| Mark Ellis | |
|---|---|
 Ellis with the Oakland Athletics | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born: (1977-06-06)June 6, 1977 (age 48) Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 9, 2002, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 2014, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .262 |
| Home runs | 105 |
| Runs batted in | 550 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Mark William Ellis (born June 6, 1977) is an American former professionalbaseballsecond baseman. He played the majority of hisMajor League Baseball (MLB) career for theOakland Athletics, and also appeared for theColorado Rockies,Los Angeles Dodgers andSt. Louis Cardinals. Ellis posted a career .991 fielding percentage, the fifth-best all-time for a second baseman in MLB history at the time of his retirement.[1]
Ellis was born inRapid City, South Dakota. Ellis graduated fromStevens High School in Rapid City in 1995. Also in Ellis' graduating class was WNBA starBecky Hammon. They were voted by their peers as male and female "Class Athletes" of the '95 graduating class.
Ellis is one of three players to have made it to the Major Leagues who played for the Rapid City Post 22American Legion baseball program; the others areKelvin Torve andDave Collins. As a 16-year-old, Ellis was the starting shortstop for the 1993 Rapid City Post 22 varsity "Hardhat" baseball team that touted a 70–5 record and won the national title inRoseburg, Oregon. In the back-to-back years (1994 & 1995), Ellis earnedSouth DakotaAmerican Legion Player of the Year honors.[2] In 2012, American Legion Baseball named Ellis the program's Graduate of the Year.[3]
He went on to play for theUniversity of FloridaGators baseball program and was the MVP of the Gainesville regional at the1998 College World Series. Although he has played his Major League career at second base, he was the starting third baseman at Florida, where that position was nicknamed "Ellis Island" due to Ellis' tremendous range and all-around fielding prowess.[citation needed]
Ellis was a ninth-round selection by theKansas City Royals in the1999 Major League Baseball Draft. He played in the Royals' farm system in 1999 and 2000, where he was a Short-Season A All-Star in 1999 and aCarolina League All-Star in 2000.
On January 1, 2001, he was acquired by theOakland Athletics along withoutfielderJohnny Damon andpitcherCory Lidle in a three-team trade with theTampa Bay Devil Rays and the Royals for outfielderBen Grieve,shortstopÁngel Berroa, andcatcherA. J. Hinch.[4] In 2001, with the Triple-ASacramento River Cats, he hit .273 in 132 games with 10 home runs.
Ellis made his Major League debut on April 9, 2002, for the Athletics against theTexas Rangers, pinch-running in the eighth inning forJeremy Giambi. He remained in the game and ground out to short in the 10th inning.[5] He recorded his first base hit, in his first Major League start, on April 18 against theAnaheim Angels, a single to left field off ofRamón Ortiz.[6] His first home run was hit on June 28, 2002, off ofSan Francisco Giants pitcherJay Witasick.[7] For the 2002 season, hisbatting was .272 in 98 games. Ellis hit .248 the following season, but missed the entire 2004 season due to a tornlabrum in his right shoulder resulting from a collision with shortstopBobby Crosby in aspring training game against theChicago Cubs.[8] In 2005, he returned to the Athletics and led the team in batting average (.316),on-base percentage (.384), andslugging average (.477) as the team's regular second baseman.
In 2006 Ellis established what was, at the time, a single-seasonAmerican League record for a second baseman with a .99685fielding percentage,[9] beating the mark previously set byBrett Boone in 1997. For the 2006 season theRawlings Gold Glove Award for second basemen went toMark Grudzielanek of theKansas City Royals, who finished with a lower fielding percentage of .994, though won the award as a result of winning the vote of MLB managers and coaches; Ellis’ single-season record was broken the following year byPlácido Polanco of theDetroit Tigers, who made no errors during the season for a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
Ellis missed most of the A's 2006post-season due to a hand injury suffered during Game 2 of theAmerican League Division Series against theMinnesota Twins.[10]
On June 4, 2007, Ellis became only the sixth player in Oakland Athletics history tohit for the cycle. On July 23, 2007, he had his first career multi-home run game against theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On August 5, 2007, he tied the A's team record for consecutive error-less games by a second baseman at 70 games.
Ellis missed the last two months of the 2008 season due to cartilage damage in his shoulder. He underwent successful surgery that also fixed a torn labrum from a previous injury.[11]
In October 2008, the Athletics signed Ellis to an $11 million contract through 2010, with an option of extending the deal an additional season.[12]
On June 30, 2011, Ellis was traded to theColorado Rockies forBruce Billings and a player to be named later.[13] On September 30, the Athletics announced that they received 22-year-old outfielder Eliezer Mesa to complete the deal.[14]
On November 15, 2011, Ellis signed a two-year, $8.75 million contract with theLos Angeles Dodgers.[15]
After a strong start, Ellis's leg was severely injured on May 20, 2012, by a hard slide fromTyler Greene of the St. Louis Cardinals while Ellis was attempting to turn adouble play. Initially saying that he was okay, Ellis did not go to the hospital until the following day when he experienced extreme discomfort and swelling in his lower leg. After performing afasciotomy to allow room within his leg for the swollen muscle tissue, his doctor later said that Ellis might have lost his leg if the surgery had been performed only six or seven hours later than it was.[16][17][18] Doctors said Ellis' injury was a rare one for athletes, but more common for victims of car accidents.[16][17] Ellis was expected to be out for six weeks and did not rejoin the Dodgers until July 4.
Overall, he appeared in 110 games for the Dodgers in 2012, hitting .258 with 7 home runs and 31 RBI.
In 2013, Ellis remained relatively healthy and played in 126 games. He hit .270 with 6 home runs and 48 RBI, helping the Dodgers win theNational League West Division's championship and afirst-round playoff series over theAtlanta Braves before the team was eliminated in theNational League Championship Series.
Ellis signed with theSt. Louis Cardinals on December 16, 2013.[19] He was placed on the disabled list with an oblique strain on August 19, 2014, after hitting a career-low .192 for the Cardinals.[20]
On February 25, 2015, Ellis announced his retirement.[1]
Ellis and his wife, Sarah, have three children.[22] They purchased a home inScottsdale, Arizona, in 2007, but sold it in 2020.[23]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle June 4, 2007 | Succeeded by |
