Mark DeRosa

Mark Thomas DeRosa is a professional baseball player from the United States of America. DeRosa is a utility player who has generally made the second baseman position his own, although he has played in most other positions in the infield and outfield as well.

DeRosa went to the Bergen Catholic High School and then to the University of Pennsylvania where he also played football along with baseball. At UPenn, he was the starting quarterback from 1993 to 1995 while also playing collegiate baseball. In 1996, he was a free agent when the Atlanta Braves signed him up in the 1996 Free Agent Draft.

Playing through the minors, DeRosa got his chance to play Major League Baseball in 2004 after being a backup throughout 2003. Vinny Castilla left the club to open up a spot that DeRosa grabbed with both hands. However, DeRosa had a poor start and was soon back to being a backup. In 2005, the Braves refused to offer DeRosa a new contract and he signed up with the Texas Rangers.

His time at the Rangers was marred by injury and he barely got any game time. In May 2006, he finally got into the starting lineup and had a .300 batting average in the first half of the season. By the end of the season, he had 74 RBIs to his name with 13 home runs.

Towards the end of 2006, DeRosa was traded out to the Chicago Cubs in the off-season and became quite a pleasant addition to the team roster. He played 149 games for the Cubs in his first season, mostly at second base but was known to play all over the field when the need arose. In 2008, DeRosa needed to undergo a surgical procedure to cure an irregular heartbeat that was causing difficulty in breathing.