Mark Ellis (baseball)
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Mark William Ellis (born June 6, 1977 in Rapid City, South Dakota) is a second baseman for Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics.
Ellis made his major-league debut in 2002, batting .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. In 2005, he return to the Athletics and had a successful season, leading the team in batting average (.316), on base percentage (.384), and slugging percentage (.477) as the team's regular second baseman.
A ninth-round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals in the 1999 amateur draft, Ellis attended the University of Florida. He was acquired along with outfielder Johnny Damon and pitcher Cory Lidle in a three-team trade for outfielder Ben Grieve, shortstop Angel Berroa, and catcher A.J. Hinch.
On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Ellis was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation. He has a career batting average of .257. He holds the MLB record for the most career home runs by a player born in South Dakota (39, through the end of the 2006 season). In 2006, Ellis broke Brett Boone's record for fielding percentage by an AL second baseman with .99685, and yet he wasn't awarded the Gold Glove Award for his position.
Mark Ellis would miss the remainder of the 2006 postseason due to an injury to his hand during the American League Division Series.
[edit] External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- Mark Ellis at ESPN.com
