Mark Ellis
From BR Bullpen
Mark William Ellis
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
- School University of Florida
- Debut April 9, 2002
- Born June 6, 1977 in Rapid City, SD USA
[edit] Biographical Information
The Los Angeles Times reported, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that Mark Ellis set the record, in mid-2006, for the most home runs by a major league player born in South Dakota.
He played college ball at the University of Florida with future major leaguers David Eckstein, Josh Fogg, Paul Rigdon, and Brad Wilkerson. In the 1999 amateur draft, 7 University of Florida players were selected, but only Ellis would ever appear in the big leagues.
After playing his first 10 seasons with the Oakland Athletics (he missed the entire 2004 season with an injury), getting into 1,056 games for the green and gold during the period, Ellis was traded to the Colorado Rockies on June 30, 2011. He was hitting .217 in 62 games at the time, and had lost his starting second baseman's job to rookie Jemile Weeks. However, he stepped right into the starting line-up with the Rockies, who had been struggling all year to find a player to man the second base bag. In his first game on July 1st, he homered off the Kansas City Royals' Danny Duffy in 9-0 win at Coors Field. That homer was one of three hits, and the following day, he had another three-hit day, this time all doubles, in leading the Rockies to another win over KC, 9-6.
