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Mark Ellis (baseball)
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Mark Ellis (baseball)
Mark William Ellis (born June 6, 1977) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Oakland Athletics, and also appeared for the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. 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.
Ellis was born in Rapid City, South Dakota. Ellis graduated from Stevens High School in Rapid City in 1995. Also in Ellis' graduating class was WNBA star Becky 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 22 American Legion baseball program; the others are Kelvin Torve and Dave 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 in Roseburg, Oregon. In the back-to-back years (1994 & 1995), Ellis earned South Dakota American Legion Player of the Year honors. In 2012, American Legion Baseball named Ellis the program's Graduate of the Year.
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. 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 the Kansas City Royals in the 1999 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 a Carolina League All-Star in 2000.
On January 1, 2001, he was 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 Ángel Berroa, and catcher A. J. Hinch. In 2001, with the Triple-A Sacramento 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 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. 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. His first home run was hit on June 28, 2002, off of San Francisco Giants pitcher Jay Witasick. For the 2002 season, his batting was .272 in 98 games. Ellis hit .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 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 established what was, at the time, a single-season American League record for a second baseman with a .99685 fielding percentage, beating the mark previously set by Brett Boone in 1997. For the 2006 season the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for second basemen went to Mark Grudzielanek of the Kansas 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 by Plácido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers, who made no errors during the season for a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
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Mark Ellis (baseball)
Mark William Ellis (born June 6, 1977) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Oakland Athletics, and also appeared for the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. 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.
Ellis was born in Rapid City, South Dakota. Ellis graduated from Stevens High School in Rapid City in 1995. Also in Ellis' graduating class was WNBA star Becky 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 22 American Legion baseball program; the others are Kelvin Torve and Dave 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 in Roseburg, Oregon. In the back-to-back years (1994 & 1995), Ellis earned South Dakota American Legion Player of the Year honors. In 2012, American Legion Baseball named Ellis the program's Graduate of the Year.
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. 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 the Kansas City Royals in the 1999 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 a Carolina League All-Star in 2000.
On January 1, 2001, he was 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 Ángel Berroa, and catcher A. J. Hinch. In 2001, with the Triple-A Sacramento 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 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. 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. His first home run was hit on June 28, 2002, off of San Francisco Giants pitcher Jay Witasick. For the 2002 season, his batting was .272 in 98 games. Ellis hit .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 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 established what was, at the time, a single-season American League record for a second baseman with a .99685 fielding percentage, beating the mark previously set by Brett Boone in 1997. For the 2006 season the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for second basemen went to Mark Grudzielanek of the Kansas 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 by Plácido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers, who made no errors during the season for a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
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