Mark DeRosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Chicago Cubs — No. 7 | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born: February 26, 1975 Passaic, New Jersey |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 2, 1998 for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2007) |
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| Batting average | .278 |
| Home runs | 51 |
| Runs batted in | 285 |
| Teams | |
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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. In his 2263 career at bats, he has 51 home runs and 285 RBIs. He has a .278 batting average, and 324 runs scored. DeRosa has 628 career hits.
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[edit] High school and college
DeRosa attended Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey, with Jim Finn of the New York Giants, where he earned all state honors in baseball and football.[1] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the starting quarterback in the 1993-1995 seasons, as well as playing varsity baseball from 1994 to 1996. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
[edit] MLB career
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. 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 his first year with the Cubs. In 2007, 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. [2]. DeRosa on February 23, 2008 was taken to a hospital after having trouble breathing and having a rapid heart beat.[3]
On February 28, 2008 DeRosa had a successful heart procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat. After the procedure he was resting at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The procedure was performed by Dr. Alan Kadish.
[edit] Personal life
He is married to model Heidi Miller with whom he has a daughter, Gabriella Faith, and still resides in Atlanta. He currently has a blog called "The Pulse" at MLB.com [1][4]
[edit] Career Statistics
| Games | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 779 | 2263 | 324 | 628 | 128 | 7 | 51 | 285 | 14 | .278 |
[edit] References
- ^ Wallace, William N. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Penn Holds Its Ground To Edge Dartmouth", The New York Times, September 25, 1994. Accessed November 7, 2007. "Then came the 53-yard touchdown pass from DeRosa to Fabish, no strangers to each other after having played together at Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey."
- ^ The Official Site of The Chicago Cubs: News: DeRosa concerned about playing time
- ^ ESPN - Piniella: DeRosa 'doing fine' after experiencing irregular heartbeat - MLB
- ^ The Pulse
[edit] External links
- Mark DeRosa Baseball-Reference Page
- Mark DeRosa Website
- Mark DeRosa Profile http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6094
