Mark DeRosa

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**Mark DeRosa**
Major League Baseball debut
Chicago Cubs — No. 7
Second Baseman
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
September 2, 1998 for the Atlanta Braves
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006 season)
Batting average	.273
Home runs	38
Runs batted in	193
Former teams
Atlanta Braves (1998-2004) Texas Rangers (2005-2006) Chicago Cubs (2007-present)

Mark Thomas DeRosa (born February 26, 1975 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a Major League Baseball player who plays for the Chicago Cubs. DeRosa is a utility player and bats right-handed. DeRosa was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 7th round of the June 1996 free agent draft.

DeRosa attended Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey, with Jim Finn (a professional football player in the National Football League), where he earned all state honors in baseball and football. He was Penn's starting quarterback in the 1993-1995 seasons, as well as playing varsity baseball from 1994 to 1996.

In his 1643 career at bats, he has 38 home runs and 193 RBI's. He has a .273 batting average, and 239 runs scored. DeRosa has 449 career hits.

DeRosa started the 2004 season as the starting third baseman for the Braves. He had been strictly a backup the previous year, 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.

After the Braves declined to offer DeRosa a contract for the 2005 season, he signed with the Rangers, logging little playing time until injuries delayed him from playing in the starting lineup until, May 2006. DeRosa responded to this opportunity 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.

On November 14, 2006 he signed to a three-year, $13 million contract with the Chicago Cubs

He is married to model Heidi Miller with whom he has a daughter, Gabriella Faith, and still resides in Atlanta.