Mark Ellis (baseball)

Mark Ellis
Los Angeles Dodgers
Second baseman
Born: June 6, 1977 (1977-06-06) (age 34) Rapid City, South Dakota
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 9, 2002 for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Batting average	.266
Home runs	92
Runs batted in	459
Teams
Oakland Athletics (2002–2011) Colorado Rockies (2011) Los Angeles Dodgers (2012–present)

Mark William Ellis (born June 6, 1977) is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He has played for the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies.

Early career

Ellis as born in Rapid City, South Dakota. Ellis graduated from Stevens High School in Rapid City in 1995, and is one of three players to have made it to the major leagues who played for the Rapid City Post 22 American Legion baseball program in Rapid City. As a 16-year-old, Ellis was the starting shortstop for the 1993 Rapid City Post 22 varsity "Hardhat" baseball team which had a 70–5 record and won the national title in Roseburg, OR. He went on to earn South Dakota American Legion Player of the Year honors in back-to-back years, 1994 and 1995. ^[1] He went on to play for the University of Florida Gators baseball program and was the MVP of the Gainesville regional at the 1998 College World Series.

Ellis was a ninth-round selection by the Kansas City Royals in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. He played with the Royals farm system in 1999 and 2000, where he was a Short-Season A All-Star in 1999 and a Carolina League All-Star in 2000.

On January 1, 2001, he acquired by the Oakland Athletics along with outfielder Johnny Damon and pitcher Cory Lidle in a three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Royals for outfielder Ben Grieve, shortstop Angel Berroa, and catcher A.J. Hinch.^[2] In 2001, with the AAA Sacramento River Cats, he hit .273 in 132 games with 10 home runs.

Major league career

Oakland Athletics

Ellis made his major-league debut on April 9, 2002 for the Athletics against the Texas Rangers, pinch running in the eighth inning for Jeremy Giambi. He remained in the game and ground out to short in the 10th inning. ^[3] He recorded his first base hit, in his first Major League start, on April 18 against the Anaheim Angels, a single to left field off of Ramón Ortiz.^[4] His first home run was hit on June 28, 2002 off of San Francisco Giants pitcher Jay Witasick. ^[5] For the 2002 season his batting was .272 in 98 games. He followed by hitting .248 the following season, but missed the entire 2004 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder resulting from a collision with shortstop Bobby Crosby in a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs.^[6] In 2005, he returned to the Athletics and led the team in batting average (.316), on base percentage (.384), and slugging average (.477) as the team's regular second baseman.

In 2006, Ellis broke Bret Boone's single-season American League record for a second baseman with a .99685 fielding percentage,^[7] although the Gold Glove Award went to the Royals' Mark Grudzielanek.

Ellis missed most of the A's 2006 post-season due to a hand injury suffered during Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins.^[8]

On June 4, 2007, Ellis became only the sixth player in Oakland Athletics history to hit for the cycle. On July 23, 2007, he had his first career multi-home run game against the Los 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. ^[9]

In October 2008, the Athletics signed Ellis to an $11 million contract through 2010, with an option of extending the deal an additional season.^[10]

Colorado Rockies

On June 30, 2011, Ellis was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Bruce Billings and a player to be named later.^[11] On September 30, the Athletics announced that they received 22-year-old outfielder Eliezer Mesa as the player to be named later to complete the deal.^[12]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On November 15, 2011, Ellis signed a two-year $8.75 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[13]

Film

• In the 2011 film, Moneyball, focusing on the Oakland A's analytical approach to economically assembling a competitive baseball team, the role of Mark Ellis is played by actor Brent Dohling.

See also

• Hitting for the cycle

References

1. ^ "Alumni > Mark Ellis". Post 22 Baseball. http://www.post22baseball.com/Alumni/ellis.htm. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
2. ^ "Mark Ellis Statistics: Transactions". Sports Reference, Inc.. http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/ellisma01.shtml#TRANS. Retrieved June 1, 2007. 
3. ^ "April 9, 2002 Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 9, 2002. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX200204090.shtml. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
4. ^ "April 18, 2002 Anaheim Angels at Oakland Athletics Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 18, 2002. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200204180.shtml. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
5. ^ "June 28, 2002 San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. June 28, 2002. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200206280.shtml. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
6. ^ Nelson, Steve (April 10, 2004). "Ellis out for the season". MLB.com. http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20040410&content_id=699534&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak. Retrieved June 1, 2007. 
7. ^ (PDF) 2007 Oakland Athletics Media Guide. MLB Advanced Media. pp. p. 69. http://pressbox.mlb.com/pressbox/downloads/y2007/oak/coaches_players_a_t.pdf. Retrieved June 1, 2007. 
8. ^ Quinn, Ryan (October 5, 2006). "Notes: A's defense takes a hit". MLB.com. http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061005&content_id=1701269&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak. Retrieved June 1, 2007. 
9. ^ Urban, Mychael (February 17, 2008). "Ellis' hitting is ahead of his throwing". oaklandathletics.com. http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090217&content_id=3839948&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak/url. Retrieved February 24, 2009. 
10. ^ Urban, Mychael (October 21, 2008). "Ellis embraces two-year deal". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081020&content_id=3633917&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb/url. Retrieved October 21, 2008. 
11. ^ Nicholson-Smith, Ben. "Rockies Acquire Mark Ellis". MLBTradeRumors.com. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/06/rockies-acquire-mark-ellis.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
12. ^ "A's announce coaching staff changes for 2012". Oakland Athletics Press Release. http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20110930&content_id=25405904&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak. Retrieved October 1, 2011. 
13. ^ Dodgers sign Ellis to two-year, $8.75M deal

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Ellis, Mark
Alternative names	Ellis, Mark William; Ellis, Mark W.
Short description	American colleg baseball player, Major League Baseball player, second baseman, infielder
Date of birth	June 6, 1977
Place of birth	Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Date of death
Place of death