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Mark DeRosa

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Mark DeRosa
Cleveland Indians – No. 7
Third baseman
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
debut
September 2, 1998, for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
(through May 7, 2009)
Batting average.278
Home runs75
Runs batted in373
Teams

Mark Thomas DeRosa (born February 26, 1975, in Passaic, New Jersey) is a Major League Baseball infielder for the Cleveland Indians. DeRosa is a utility player who has been primarily a second baseman, but can play other positions; he played six positions for the Chicago Cubs.[1] He is currently Cleveland's full-time 3rd baseman. He bats right-handed.

DeRosa was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 7th round of the June 1996 free agent draft. In his 2,409 career at bats through 2008, he had a .279 batting average, 75 home runs, 740 hits, 406 runs, and 352 RBIs.

High school and college

DeRosa attended Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey, with Jim Finn of the New York Giants, where he earned all-state honors in baseball and football.[2]

He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the starting quarterback in the 1993-95 seasons, as well as playing varsity baseball from 1994 to 1996. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. DeRosa was also one of six Ivy Leaguers on major league rosters at the beginnning of the 2009 season.[1]

MLB career

Atlanta Braves

DeRosa made his MLB debut on September 2, 1998 as a shortstop for the Atlanta Braves. From '98-'01, DeRosa spent much of his time as a backup utility player, playing both infield and outfield. In 2002, though still playing as a backup, DeRosa was starting to play more and more, and enjoyed a sucessful batting average of .297.

DeRosa started the 2004 season as the starting third baseman for the Braves. He had been strictly a backup the previous bunch of years, but the departure of Vinny Castilla opened the spot for him. His performance as a starter was widely considered unacceptable. DeRosa himself spoke openly of his poor performance, declaring in one interview that even his mother couldn't tell him she thought he was playing well. After about a month, DeRosa was demoted back to a backup. Chipper Jones moved from left field to third base, where he had played his whole career until 2002. Jones was replaced in left field by a platoon of Charles Thomas, an unknown rookie, and Eli Marrero, a fairly obscure catcher/outfielder who was considered the much less important half of the trade in which the Braves acquired him and J. D. Drew for pitchers Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Adam Wainwright. At the end of 2004, the Braves declined to offer DeRosa a contract for the 2005 season.

Texas Rangers

After the Braves declined to offer DeRosa a contract, he signed with the Texas Rangers. He logged little playing time due to injuries in 2005 which delayed him from playing in the starting lineup. Finally healthy in May of 2006, he received the opportunity to start. DeRosa responded to this by hitting well over .300 for the first half of the season. At season's end, he topped his career high in RBI with 74, eclipsing his previous career high of 31. DeRosa also set a career high in home runs, with 13, and batted a respectable .296. He set a career high with getting 40 doubles.

Chicago Cubs

Mark DeRosa warms up before a game on July 9, 2008.

On November 14, 2006 he signed to a three-year, $13 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. DeRosa's signing was one of several off-season acquisitions by the Cubs in their spending spree. He was a pleasant surprise at the plate in 2007, his first year with the Cubs. He appeared in 149 games for the Cubs, with the majority of his time at second base, but filling in at times all over the field. DeRosa batted .293 with 10 home runs and 74 RBIs.[3] DeRosa on February 23, 2008, was taken to a hospital after having trouble breathing and having a rapid heart beat.[4]

On February 28, 2008 DeRosa had a successful heart procedure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to correct an irregular heartbeat. His heart procedure earned him the nickname of "the Pulse", which was also the name of his blog on www.cubs.com.

DeRosa had a very successful 2008 season, where he helped the Cubs to the best record in the National League. He had career highs in home runs with 21 and RBIs with 87.

Cleveland Indians

On December 31, 2008, DeRosa was traded to the Cleveland Indians for minor league pitchers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer, and John Gaub. [5] DeRosa is expected to play third base for the Indians for the 2009 season. He had his first hit with the Tribe on April 10 and his first Home Run on April 12. He starts at 3rd base, but manager Eric Wedge has said that he could see some time at 1st base and in the outfield.


Personal life

DeRosa is married to former model Heidi Miller, with whom he has a daughter, Gabriella Faith. They reside in Atlanta. He has his own website at [2]www.markderosa7.com, where he writes a personal blog about his career, his experiences as a quarterback at UPenn and the Cubs' chances of breaking the curse of the Billy Goat. He also analyzes the pennant race and reports on the latest Cubs news. The site also includes special media for fans, message boards, exclusive pics and autographed merchandise. He also has a blog called "The Pulse" at MLB.com [6]

Career statistics

Through September 10, 2008

G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI SB CS SH SF BB IBB HBP SO GIDP AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
882 2942 2615 398 730 69 10 75 1101 348 18 13 12 26 250 15 39 481 64 .301 .348 .421 .769 87.9

References

  1. ^ DeRosa is Never Out of Position NY Times, March 22, 2009
  2. ^ Wallace, William N. (1994-09-25). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Penn Holds Its Ground To Edge Dartmouth". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Muskat, Carrie (2008-01-16). "DeRosa concerned about playing time". mlb.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Associated Press (2008-02-23). "Piniella: DeRosa 'doing fine' after experiencing irregular heartbeat". espn.com. Retrieved 2008-09-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Tribe acquires DeRosa from Cubs
  6. ^ The Pulse
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mark DeRosa.

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