Ellis ends season with injury

The 2008 season came to close for second basemen Mark Ellis on Thursday, he was officially added to the disabled list for an injury to his right shoulder. "I'm done," Ellis said. Team doctors have suggested he will need surgery to repair chips in his right shoulder cartilage. "Definitely not the news you want to hear. It's not good timing by any means." Ellis is a free agent at the end of year and would have liked to improved upon his season ending statistics of .233 batting average with 12 home runs, 44 rbi's, before testing the free agent market. It sounds like he would prefer to stay in Oakland, "I'll be here as long as I can," he said. Regardless of where he will be playing he says, "I should be ready by Spring Training, for sure."

I would like to wish Ellis good luck during the off season and a speedy recovery.

A's on track

The A's found a way to win on Saturday 5 to 1 over Baltimore Orioles. Mark Ellis did not play.

Oakland scores 11 to beat Baltimore

Oakland scored 11 runs on seven hits to beat the Orioles 11 to 2 on Friday night. Mark Ellis still has not played.

Kasas City Royals sweep A's in double header

The Royals used the rain out Wednesday to prepare for a sweep of the series with the A's on Thursday. The Royals won the first game 5 to 4 and the second 9 to 6. Mark Ellis did not play.

Mark Ellis nominated for Roberto Clemente Award

Story from MLB.com:
Presented by Chevrolet, the Clemente award recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team. It is named in honor of the former Pirates outfielder whose spirit and goodwill will always be remembered. Clemente died in a plane crash while attempting to transport relief supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua on Dec. 31, 1972.
Beginning with the 2006 season, Ellis started the Putouts for Diabetes Program; for each putout he records, he makes a charitable donation to the American Diabetes Association. Ellis has donated $10,000 of his own money to the association. Additionally, Ellis in August 2007 visited and spoke with 50 children from the Fremont/Newark YMCA to promote healthy eating and increased activity in the hopes of preventing diabetes.
Ellis also shared his personal story about how diabetes affected two of his grandparents and a childhood friend, and emphasized the importance of staying active by teaching the children a few of his pregame stretches. For the 2008 season, Ellis has continued with his Putouts for Diabetes program.
Ellis also participates in the player ticket purchase program where he buys tickets for the Boys and Girls Clubs to attend Oakland A's games. Mark also attends the A's Dinner on the Diamond, which is a fundraiser for the Oakland A's Community Fund and also plays golf in the A's Community Fund Golf Classic.
Ellis' local charity for the 2008 Roberto Clemente Award is the Black Hills Children's Home, which is located in Rapid City, S.D., which is his birthplace and where he was raised. The children's home works with underprivileged and abused children along with their families. Ellis has donated his time and money to this charity, as well as hosting a baseball clinic for the children at the school.

Kansas City Royals win

The Kansas City Royals beat the A's 5 to 2 on Tuesday in an uneventful game in Kansas City.
Mark Ellis did not play.

Labor Day signals the final month of the season

Labor Day signals the beginning of the last month of the regular season. The second bagger Mark Ellis has not played since an injury to his right shoulder on August 21st against the Mariners. He has not been placed on the disabled list at this time.

Last day of August big for Twins

A's pitcher Greg Smith gave up eight runs in five innings in the 12 to 4 loss to the Twins on Sunday. The A's and Twins split the series two games a piece.
Mark Ellis did not play.

A's score two in ninth to win

The Oakland A's scored two runs in the ninth inning on Twins closer Joe Nathan to take a 3 to 2 victory Saturday. Nathan beat himself by making a throwing error trying to get the lead runner at third base on a sacrifice by Ryan Sweeney. Bobby Crosby and Emil Brown both scored on the play to give the A's the win. Brown after the game, "I was shocked. He would've had to make a perfect throw to third in order to get Bobby. The play was in front of me, so when I saw the ball get away, I wasn't going to stop." The A's took the lead in the four game series with the Twins 2 games to 1.
Mark Ellis entered the game as a pinch hitter and struck out.

Slowey handles A's

The Twins beat up the A's 12 to 2 on Friday night using 20 hits and lights out pitching from Kevin Slowey. Slowey pitched six innings allowing only two runs and tallying ten strike outs, he picked up his fourth straight win.
Mark Ellis did not play.

A's beat Twins

The Oakland A's Dana Eveland allowed only two runs leading the A's over the Twins 3 to 2 on Thursday night. The Twins are in a heated battle with White Sox for first place in the Central Division. The A's Mark Ellis has now missed five straight games with his injury.

Ellis named to 40th Anniversary team

Oakland A's fans voted Mark Ellis to the 40th Anniversary team. He is the only active player to receive the honor. "It's a cool honor," Ellis said. "You look at the names on that list, it's a storied organization. So to be on that list and be with those guys, that's really neat."

A's take series with Angels

The Oakland A's used 14 hits and scored seven runs to beat the Angels 6 to 5 on Wednesday night. The A's took the series 2 games to 1.
Manager Bob Geren said Mark Ellis was wanting to play but, "He's still not ready. It's gonna be at least another couple of days." Ellis injured his right shoulder during the game against Seattle. Ellis did enter the game to pinch run.

Angels Lackey beats A's

"We'll just have to try to get it done tomorrow. That's all you can do," Oakland A's manager Bob Geren comments after the 5 to 1 loss to the Angels. John Lackey threw a one run complete game to improve his record to 11-2 on the season. Lackey continues to be one of the best pitchers in baseball this year.
Mark Ellis is listed as day-to-day.

Athletics over Angels

Oakland pitcher Dallas Barden pitched the A's to victory over the Angels Monday night. Barden threw seven innings allowing only one run in the 2 to 1 victory. "As a staff, we really try to stress that and give us every opportunity to get outs any way we can," Braden said. "As a guy who's not going to light up the radar gun, you look for outs in other ways when you're struggling or even when you're going good. One of the facets of my game I like to practice is controlling the running game and giving Zuke a chance to throw a guy out when he does decide to take off."
Ellis is still out and may return soon.

Mariners win, Ellis out still

The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A's 8 to 4 on Sunday. Jack Hannahan hit two solo homers for his first career multihomer game. Mark Ellis is still day-to-day from his injury.

A's win, Ellis feeling better

Dana Eveland returned to the big leagues from Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday and pitched seven shut out innings to give the A's a much needed 5 to 1 victory over Seattle. "It was a good day all around. It felt real good to get out there again and to win again is a bonus," Eveland said. "And we'll try to do what we can to win a series, hopefully." Eveland was sent down to the minors in early August to work on his mechanics.
Mark Ellis did not play due to his injured right shoulder and is listed as day-to-day. "It feels much better, so I'm happy about that," he said. "Hopefully, it won't be long until I'm back. It was still a little tight and a little sore before I got it worked on, but it feels good now. It doesn't look like it's anything serious." Let's hope not, this blog suffers without it's main character.

Ellis leaves game early

The Mariners beat the Oakland A's 7 to 5 Friday night. Mark Ellis was 0 for 1 before leaving the game in second inning with right shoulder pain. It may have been from a hard slide into second base during Thursday game. Ellis talked about how his shoulder feels, "Sometimes, it just takes a little while to get loose, and it wasn't really loose during batting practice, and certainly it didn't feel real good in my first at-bat. And then as I'm making my throws in between innings, [I realized] that I wouldn't be able to make a play up the middle or even turn a double play, so that's when I began to realize I should probably let somebody else go up there." Manager Bob Geren said that Ellis would be day-to-day.

A's win in Seattle opener

The Athletics opened the series with the Seattle Mariners by winning 2 to 0. The A's benefited from good pitching by rookies Greg Smith and Brad Ziegler. Veteran slugger Frank Thomas was ejected in the sixth inning after complaining about striking out to the umpire. Bob Geren, "It's the old arguing balls and strikes -- you're not supposed to do that I guess. But he's [Thomas] been around a long time ... he knows."
Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk.

A's have no luck in series ending with Twins

With the 3 to 1 loss on Wednesday, the A's dropped the third game of the Twins series and set the franchise record for 11 consecutive series losses. In all of baseball history, no Athletics team has suffered the number of series losses as this 2008 club. Manager Bob Geren, "Today was one of our better games. We played really good baseball today. We just got beat. ... Every day it's a different story. Today we just didn't get any breaks."
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

Minnesota plays station to station baseball

Kevin Slowey pitched masterfully for the Twins on Tuesday allowing only one earned run in seven innings. The Twins pounded out sixteen hits in the 13 to 2 victory over the A's. Mark Ellis spoke about Nick Punto's hard slide into second base in the sixth inning that upended him,"I never have a problem with that. You never stop playing the game. As soon as you stop playing the game, it'll come back and bite you. They were just playing hard. They play the game right here, always have." Ellis also talked about the A's season, "It's been tough. It's been really tough. We haven't won a lot of ballgames. The only other stretch I can remember was in 2005, early in the season — but I think this is probably a little bit worse. It's not a lot of fun. It's been a long time since we've won a series," Ellis said with a sigh. "It'd be nice to win tomorrow and have a nice plane ride to Seattle."
Mark Ellis was 2 for 4.

Ellis hits first pitch home run

Mark Ellis hit the first pitch off Twins Nick Blackburn into the left field seats. It was Ellis's third career leadoff home run, and helped lead the A's to a much needed 3 to 2 victory over the Twins on Monday. Ellis was excited to get things started for his team and expressed wanting to get more offense going, "We haven't been scoring a lot of runs, period, so to put one up there that quick was nice," Ellis said. "Blackburn's around the plate a lot, so I was looking for something to hit right away. We're going to have the opportunity to be spoilers. We need to get back to playing how we played the first month and start scoring some runs. It was nice to get out early tonight."
The low point in the game came when A's pitcher Justin Duchscherer left the game with pain in his right hip. "It's terrible," second baseman Mark Ellis said. "Not just for the team, but for him personally. He's been having such an incredible year. When he's our starter, we're 100 percent sure we're going to win that game." The injury problems continue for the A's.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored and a walk. The home run was his 12th of the year.

Chicago tallies runs

Chicago used nine hits to score 13 runs in their victory over the Oakland A's on Sunday 13 to 1. The A's Gio Gonzalez struggled early and dug a hole the A's couldn't overcome. Mark Ellis had the day off and replacement Eric Patterson was 0 for 4 on the day.

Chicago White Sox in first place in Central

The Chicago White Sox have been in first place in the American League Central most of the year. Pitcher John Danks will help keep them there with his superb pitching. Danks allowed only one run on six hits in six innings pitched for the White Sox win 2 to 1 on Saturday. Danks talked about his career success against Oakland, "I don't have any secret. I feel like I just have better games against them. I don't know why, because they're a tough team. I'll take it. It's always good to win here in Oakland. We haven't done that over the last few years."
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 with a walk.

A's walk off in Chicago

The Oakland A's used home runs by Mark Ellis, Jack Cust, and Kurt Suzuki to beat the Chicago White Sox on Friday night 6 to 4. After the game Suzuki talked about wanting to get the game over without going into extra innings, "We have a day game tomorrow, we didn't want to play extra innings." The Sox had 19 hits in the game but the A's amazingly held them to only four runs.
Mark Ellis hit his 11 home run of the year with two outs in the eighth. He was 1 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.

Pena homers in 12th to beat A's

It took 15 pitchers, four hours and twenty four minutes, tweleve innings, and a home run by Carlos Pena for the game between the Rays and the Athletics to end in a 7 to 6victory for Tampa. Additionally, A's pitcher Brad Ziegler had his scoreless innings pitched record broke by B.J. Upton in the ninth inning. The A's were hoping to win a series for the first time in more than a month. They played hard but came up short. Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a run scored and a stolen base.

Tampa guts out win

The Rays scored the go ahead run on Ben Zobrist double in the seventh inning winning Wednesday night 3 to 2 over the A's. Mark Ellis was put back into the lead off spot and went 2 for 4.

First place Rays take on Athletics

The American League East division leading Tampa Bay Rays were in town Tuesday night to take on the Oakland Athletics. The Rays are having a great year despite the team having several serious injuries to key players. Oakland has been struggling as of late and looked to Gio Gonzalez to pick them up a much needed victory. He did just that when the A's beat the Rays 2 to 1. Gonzalez picked up his first major league victory by allowing only one run in five innings pitched. Brad Ziegler pitched the ninth inning and picked up the save. He talked about making his scoreless streak look real easy, "I'm glad it looks that way, because it sure doesn't feel that way."
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4.

Detroit wins

Detroit's Nate Robertson cruised to an easy victory 6 to 1 Sunday by allowing only one run in 7 2/3 innings pitched. Huston Street continues to struggle for the A's allowing three runs on three hits in one inning or relief pitching. Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with an rbi.

Detroit electrify's the A's

The game in Detroit was delayed by a thunderstorm in the area. In fact, lightning struck the lights above the scoreboard. Detroit generated their own electricity on the field with their bats pounding out 13 hits and scoring 10 runs to beat the visiting A's 10 to 2 Saturday night. The A's continue to struggle and Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 with two strike outs.

The A's win, the A's win

The Oakland A's headed to Detroit to take on the Tigers Friday night. Lead by the great pitching of Dallas Braden and Brad Ziegler the A's picked up a much needed victory 4 to 2. Braden allowed only 2 runs in seven innings pitched and Ziegler extended his scoreless inning streak in the eighth and ninth and picked up the save. Ziegler streak is now at 37 innings without allowing a run to begin a career. Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with an rbi in the game.

Blue Jay sweeps and Ellis errors

After another loss to the Blue Jays Thursday 6 to 4, the A's are suffering from a tremendous losing streak that has now stretched to ten games. The second bagger Mark Ellis had a few words to say, "If we do one thing right, we do something else wrong. If we hit the ball, we're not pitching. If we pitch the ball, we're not hitting. So it's just the way it's been for all 10 games. That's how you get a losing streak."
The game was characterized by poor defense with Ellis picking up his fourth error of the season. "Crosby made a great play and I'm on the run," said Ellis. "I just couldn't find the bag. I tried to catch the ball and find the bag at the same time. I got it on the second try but he had already beat it."
Ellis remand calm after the game discussing what the A's need to do moving forward, "A lot of our guys hit the ball well tonight. Hopefully we'll start to hit the ball better. It's day-to-day. You just have to take it day-to-day. You can't look at the long [run], you just have to do you're thing every day, put your work in and hopefully the results will come."
Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with two strike outs.

Blue Jays 5 Athletics 1

The A's brought up top pitching prospect Gio Gonzalez for Wednesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Gonzales pitched well allowing four runs on four hits in six innings pitched. Oakland lost the game 5 to 1, and now has dropped 18 of their last 20 games. Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki on the Gonzalez's debut, "The guy is 22 years old, and the sky's the limit for a guy like that. He works hard and competes when he's out there. That's all you can ask for from a young guy."
Mark Ellis was 0 for 3.

Athletics lose....again

With another loss to the Blue Jays Tuesday night 4 to 3, the Athletics have now lost eight games in a row. Huston Street blew the lead by allowing the game winning single with two outs in the ninth to Blue Jay's Kevin Mench. It's possible that Street will be moved from the closer position. A frustrated Coach Geren after the game, "When you have a chance to win and you don't win, it's always frustrating. We've had a rough week. It would have been a big one to win and get us going."
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with an rbi.

Jays Halladay may be pitcher best pitcher in baseball

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay continues to dominate hitters in the American League this season. Halladay shut down the A's on Monday night allowing only one run in eight innings. With the 6 to 1 Blue Jay win. Halladay picked up his 13th victory of the season. The A's have lost 14 of their last 16 games.
Another blow to the Oakland offense comes with the news that third baseman Eric Chavez will have season-ending surgery to repair his right shoulder. Oakland is reeling out-of-control.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 3.

Errorless streak ends for Ellis

A throwing error by Mark Ellis in the bottom of the third inning against the Boston Red Sox has snapped the A's second baseman 57 game errorless streak. It is the third error in 496 chances on the season and his fielding percentage is now at .994. Ellis continues to be the top fielding second baseman in the league. The Red Sox completed the sweep of the A's Sunday winning 5 to 2. Mark Ellis was 1 for 4.

Red Sox pounds the A's

The Boston Red Sox's pounded out 14 hits amd scored 12 runs to beat the Oakland A's on Saturday 12 to 2. The Red Sox were lead by Kevin Youkilis 4 rbi's and stout pitching from Jon Lester. The A's continue to struggle offensively and pitching. Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with a pair of strike outs.

The record is set

Friday night in Boston, Mark Ellis officially set the record for most game played by a second baseman in Athletics's franchise history. "I just found out a couple of days ago," Ellis said. "That's neat. It's a very storied organization, so it's fun to be able to be on that list. It's a neat feeling for sure." Ellis is in his sixth year with the A's. "It means the organization likes you because you've been here a long time," Ellis said. "You've had a little bit of success. To me, it's cool, because it's the only organization I've ever known in the big leagues. So it's a neat record."
Ellis passes the mark set by Dick Green, also from Rapid City, S.D. "Dick Green is a friend of mine. He lives in my hometown. So that's cool, too," Ellis said. "Growing up, [I didn't know him]. But once I got drafted and started playing with the A's, we got to know each other. They had some reunions back in Oakland. So I got to know him pretty well. He's a great guy. So it's extra special for that."
Mark Ellis is a quite, hard playing, defensive minded veteran player that many people haven't heard of. Ellis is the prototypical blue collar ball player. He hustles, makes plays that don't show up in the box score, and is a good club house guy. Ellis commented about going pretty much unnoticed. "That's fine with me. That's kind of the way I like it. Being on the West Coast, people out here don't see us play a lot, because the games are so late for [the East Coast] guys. But I enjoy it. I enjoy just going about my business and trying to help the team win. I don't need any of the media attention and all that stuff. So it's kind of nice."
Shying away from award talk and gold glove possibilities for this year Ellis said, "Awards are usually voted on by different people. So it doesn't mean a big deal for me, so as long as we win and we make the playoffs. That's fine with me."
Manager Bob Geren on Ellis, "He is [under the radar], and it's not fair to him,. Because if he had more attention, he'd have a Gold Glove or two. He really would, and he deserves that because he really is the best second baseman in the league. And not even discrediting Polanco or Grudzielanek, guys who've gotten it in the past; they're excellent players, too. But he is. Maybe he's not flashy enough to get the attention of other people because he's so textbook with what he does. But if you see him play for any extended period of time, you'd vote for him for a Gold Glove, no doubt. You see him play a series once or twice a year, you might not see the flashiness that draws attention. His style is very by the book, does everything right. As a manager, that's what I want."
Ellis was 2 for 5 in the game against Boston Red Sox Friday night. The Red Sox sneaked out a win 2 to 1 in 12 innings.

Ellis ties A's record for games played by a second bagger

Mark Ellis and fellow Rapid City native Dick Green now share the record for most games played at second base (721) for the Oakland Athletic franchise(formerly Kansas City). Ellis is in his sixth year with A's and already holds the Major League record for single season fielding percentage by a second baseman (.997), committing just two errors in 123 games and 632 chances during the 2006 season. Ellis is also closing in on the A's franchise record for the most home runs by a second baseman (76) held by Dick Green, Ellis now has 68. Dick Green was a second baseman with the Kansas City Athletics from 1963 to 1967 and with the Oakland Athletics from 1968 to 1974.
The Kansas City Royals closed out the series with the Oakland Athletics Wednesday by winning in the 12th inning 4 to 3. Kansas City completed the sweep with the win. Mark Ellis found some fire and was 2 for 5 with a run scored.

Royals stick it to the A's

Gil Meche allowed only two runs as the Royals beat the A's 5 to 2 Tuesday night in Oakland. The A's continue to struggle to score runs and are loser of five or their last six games. Mark Ellis on the teams lack of scoring "It's not fun. We've got to keep working to have good at-bats as a team. We've got to make pitchers work more. We're not scoring a lot of runs," he said. "That's the whole key to everything. We have a reputation as a team to be patient, so guys like to throw strikes at us right away." Ellis got rid of some of the hitting funk by going 2 for 4 with a run scored and an rbi.

Nebraska native Alex Gordon hits home run for Royals

The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland A's on Monday 4 to 2. Royals third baseman Alex Gordon hit a two run home run in the sixth inning to clench the game. Gordon played college baseball at the University of Nebraska and was a 1st round draft pick for the Royals.
Mark Ellis talked about the Oakland struggles and trade rumors, "I think that has a lot to do with it. I can only speak for myself, but I don't think about [trade rumors] one bit." Ellis went on to comment about the pitching in the American League, "This is the American League; there's a lot of good pitchers," he said. "You're going to see a good pitcher most nights. Sometimes you'll run into ... a guy who's really on top of his game and you have to tip your cap, but you can't tip your cap every night."
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 on the night and is reeling.

Oakland's Brad Ziegler sets record

Oakland A's reliever Brad Ziegler set the Major League Baseball record for scoreless innings to start a career on Sunday with 27 innings. The scoreless record stood since 1907, a hundred and one years. Ziegler talked about sending some the game balls used on Sunday to Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame, "I don't know if that's something I'd ever thought I'd have to do as long as it wasn't a real embarrassing moment or someone else's highlight, but it's pretty incredible. It's real special. I feel like I've worked real hard to get here. Thankfully it's not over yet. Hopefully we can keep it going."
Ziegler reflected on his accomplishment before today's game,"There are a lot of great pitchers who have debuted in the last 100 years, so to be at the top of that list right now feels great. It's real special. I feel like I've worked real hard to get here. I've never had anything handed to me, so it makes this that much more special."
The A's beat the Texas Rangers 6 to 5, preventing the series sweep. Mark Ellis continues to struggle at the plate going 0 for 4 for the game.

Ellis hits 10th home run, Hamilton hits number 24

Josh Hamilton and the Texas Ranger offense continued to get hits off Oakland pitching winning Saturday 9 to 4. Hamilton hit a towering three run home run in the 5th off A's ace Justin Duchscherer it was his 24th of the year. Mark Ellis found his stroke going deep in the bottom of the ninth tallying his tenth home run of the year. There hasn't been any trade talk involving Ellis in the last few days. Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with an rbi, run scored, and a home run.

Texas scores eight in ninth, win big

The Oakland A's looked comfortable early in the first game of the series with the Texas Rangers Friday night, scoring five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Not to be out done, the Texas Rangers scored five runs in the top of the fourth led by a two run home run by Josh Hamilton. Texas went on toe score fourteen runs on nineteen hits, including an eight run top of the ninth. The end of the game prompted comment from Oakland manager Bob Geren "Obviously, it was an ugly finish."
Second baseman Mark Ellis returned to the line up after missing two games due to an injured shoulder. Ellis was 0 for 4 with two strike outs.

Tampa wins series

The Tampa Bay Rays took the series against Oakland with a 4 to 3 win on Wednesday afternoon. Emil Brown and Carlos Gonzalez hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning, but Ray's pitcher James Shields allowed only one more run in 8 1/3 innings pitched.
Mark Ellis was out for the second consecutive game with a sore shoulder, he should return for Friday's game against the Rangers.

Ellis kept from lineup

While getting picked off second base by Ray's Scott Kazmir in Monday nights game, Mark Ellis slid into Rays fielder Ben Zobrist's shin injuring his shoulder. Ellis was held out of Tuesday's game against the Rays. He talked about the seriousness of the injury, "I know my shoulder pretty well from what happened a few years back. And I know this is nothing major." He worked out on the field before the game, "I was hoping it would loosen up after a few throws, but it never did. So I just shut it down." Ellis visited with the team trainer and made the decision not to go.
Ellis said he doesn't want to get a CAT scan, "I already know what an MRI is going to show. It's going to show that I have a torn labrum. They don't just heal on their own. ... I'm a little sore right now, but we'll see how it is tomorrow and go from there. I'll be fine." Let's hope Ellis knows his body and can get himself back in the line up soon without further injury.

Will Ellis be in Oakland next year?

Slightly halfway through the 2008 Major League Baseball season, there appears to be little contract work completed for Oakland A's second baseman Mark Ellis. Ellis is in his final contract year with the A's. After early speculation that a deal was in-the-works to keep Ellis in Oakland, nothing seems to be set. Oakland used this years draft pick on Jemile Weeks a second baseman in college. Oakland's AAA league Cliff Pennington started this years All-Star Futures Game at second base. With A's General Manager Billy Beane sticking to the aggressive philosophy of getting the most value, when you can from a player, Ellis would be a perfect candidate for a move.
Ellis could possibly have the best defensive year ever by a second baseman, he has committed only two errors on the season. He has shown some power at the plate with nine home runs but his batting average is down to .235 and OBP .332. For a team looking to shore up it's defensive, Ellis would make a great fit. We will have to wait and see what happens in the next week, as the July 31st trade deadline approaches.

Oakland 8 Tampa Bay 1

The A's got a much needed victory Tuesday night in Tampa Bay. The A's used positive thinking to get ready for the game, "Everybody had a pretty good outlook today, Bob Geren said. "We're trying to keep everybody positive. We had a little meeting about that and how to lead by example. We talked about it for about a half hour. The mood, I think, was positive." Geren gave second baseman Mark Ellis the day off.

Oakland skidding, drop six in a row

The Oakland A's dropped their sixth game in a row on Monday night, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays 4 to 0. The A's frustration is evident in comments by second baseman Mark Ellis, "You just can't think about any of that stuff; how many games you're back, trade rumors, whatever. I know it's a stupid cliche, but you really do have to take it one game at a time. And for us, the way we're going, we have to take it one pitch at a time." Ellis went on to talk about the A's not hitting like they should be in the last few games, "They're not invincible. They're all good pitchers, but we should still be able to score some runs off them. It's not like we're facing [Toronto ace] Roy Halladay every day, or [Mariners ace] Felix Hernandez at his best. I think more than anything, it's just a team-wide funk." Mark Ellis was 0 for 2 with 2 walks in the game. He was picked off second by Rays pitcher Scott Kazmir, in what appeared to be a great play by Kazmir and lapse of concentration by Ellis. Manager Bob Geren on his team, "Guys are getting a little bit down, struggling.”

Yankees sweep Oakland

The Oakland A's played their final game in the historic Yankee Stadium on Sunday losing in a close one 2 to 1. Andy Pettitte picked up his eleventh win of the season shutting down the A's line up. "It's kind of the same old story -- the pitchers throw good and the offense isn't doing well," second bagger Mark Ellis said. "We're striking out a lot, I know that. I think guys are aware of it, though, and I think that just adds to the problem. So if you go up there and just try to have good at-bats, it will probably take care of itself." Seems to be a hint of frustration in Ellis' voice as he was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice bunt and a strike out in the game.

Joba pitches Yankees to win

New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain allowed only one run in six innings pitched against the Oakland A's Saturday. The A's took the 3-2 lead in the top half of the ninth inning, but the Yankees answered with a run of their own in the bottom half to tie the score. Yankees catcher Jose Molina was hit-by-pitch with bases loaded in the 12th inning to give the Yankees the 4-3 win. Oakland's manager Bob Geren, ''We played well. It was a great game. We were right there. We just didn't win.''
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 with a walk and two strike outs.

A's kick off second half in New York

The Oakland A's were in New York to take on the Yankees and start the second half of the season. Oakland's Greg Smith gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings while Yankees' Mike Mussina allowed only one run in six innings to give the Yankees a 7 to 1 win. Oakland managed nine hits but could not push the runs across. Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with a run scored but also struck out 3 times in the game.

The Long All-Star Game

The last All-Star game at Yankee Stadium was one to remember. The American League All-Star Justin Morneau scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Michael Young in the 15th inning. The American League won for the 12th straight time and last four hours and fifty minutes. National League Second Bagger Dan Uggla committed four errors in the game. The game MVP was Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew.

Josh Hamilton hits 28 home runs in derby

Justin Morneau won the 2008 home run derby contest. Josh Hamilton's 28 home runs in the first round stole the show. Hamilton brought in his high school baseball coach to pitch to him for the derby. Hamilton is an interesting story, he was a number one draft pick coming out of high school, he then had a bout with a drug addiction, and now is playing in his first all-star game. He has proven to be an inspiration for all of us.

Oakland falls again to Angels

Justin Duchscherer pitched a great game allowing only two runs and five hits but it wasn't enough as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland A's 4 to 3 Sunday afternoon. The A's head into the All-Star break six games behind the Angels in the West division.

Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk. The A's second baseman Mark Ellis enters the break with a 46-game errorless streak and leads AL second basemen with a .995 fielding percentage.

Angels bounce back

Ervin Santana shut the Oakland hitters down on Saturday allowing only one run in seven innings pitched winning the game 4 to 1. Santana talked about his dominance over the A's, ''Every year they have a different team, different players. I just go out there and do my best. I don't think about it. I just try to pitch.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4.

Oakland picks up a game in the West

The Oakland A's used fifteen hits and nine runs to beat league leading Los Angeles Angels on Friday night 9 to 2. It was the A's pitcher Sean Gallagher's Oakland debut. ''It's been a little crazy, a little hectic,'' Gallagher said. ''I had to pack up all my stuff in Chicago and bring it all here. I'm just trying to get acclimated to this area ... but it's been fun.'' The A's picked up a game on the Angels in the standings.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with two runs scored.

Brown hits walk off home run in eleventh

Emil Brown hit his 7th home run of the season, giving the Oakland A's a walk off victory in the 11th inning against the Mariners on Thursday night. Brown gave the A's hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo credit for the home run, ''I swung the bat, but Ty got me better prepared for that at-bat than any before. He told me exactly what the guy would do and I kept that in the back of my mind like a game plan. He did exactly what Ty told me he would.''
Greg Smith pitched six shut out innings and Huston Street picked up the victory. Mark Ellis was 0 for 5 for the second straight game dropping his batting average to .239.

Mariners beat Oakland, Blanton back to normal

Oakland A's pitcher Joe Blanton allowed nine hits and six runs in 6 innings losing to the Seattle Mariners 6 to 4. It's his 12th loss of the season and his ERA now stands at 4.96. Summing up his struggles Blanton said, "I'm beating myself and not making good pitches when I need to."
Mark Ellis continues to struggle at the plate and went 0 for 5 on the game.

Justin Duchscherer sharp for A's, Haren to Cubs

Oakland Athletics Justin Duchscherer pitched a complete game shutout against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night winning 2 to 0. Duchscherer is now 10-5 on the season with an ERA of 1.78. After the game he said, "All in all, a great team win." Nice to see a guy have a great individual performance then give credit to his team. The game was some what overshadowed by the trade between A's and Cubs. The A's traded pitchers Dan Haren and Chad Gaudin to the Chicago Cubs for minor league prospects. Duchsherer was asked about the big trade, "When I come to the field on my day to pitch I try to stay focused on the task at hand but it's tough. We're like a family in here. I played with both of those guys for three-plus years, so it's tough. It's like your brother goes somewhere else and you don't get to hang out with him anymore but it's part of the business.''
Mark Ellis 0 for 3 on the night.

Lowly Seattle comes to town

The last place Seattle Mariners were in town take on the Oakland Athletics on Monday night. Seattle managed three runs in the top of the first but failed to score again. The A's scored one in the third and then three in the fifth to win the game 4 to 3. The Second Bagger was 1 for 4 with an rbi.

Series finale goes to the Sox

The Chicago White Sox capped a split of the four game series with the Oakland Athletics by winning 4 to 3 on Sunday. A.J. Pierzynski summed up his feelings after going 8-2 during their home stand in Chicago, ''It's huge. We played well against three pretty good teams. ... Oakland's a good team. They're not going to go away. They don't quit. They're young. They might not have the big names, but they've got some good players.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with an rbi.

Chicago White Sox win easily

The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland A's Saturday 6 to 1. Gavin Floyd pitched for the White Sox and got the win. Rookie Greg Smith struggled for the A's allowing 4 runs in five innings pitched. Smith gave up homers to Nick Swisher and Brian Angerson. After the game he talked about the two home runs, ''They were right down the middle and if you do that with these White Sox, they're going to do that. Just two mistakes.''
Mark Eills was o for 4 with a strike out.

Independence Day

The Oakland A's blasted the Chicago White Sox with 17 hits and the victory 7 to 1 on Friday. The A's were treated to a great pitching performance by the A's Joe Blanton who only allowed one earned run in seven innings pitched. Emil Brown was 3 for 5 with two rbi's and Jack Cust hit his 15th home run in the 4th inning. Mark Ellis was 0 for 2 with four walks.

A's handle the Chi Sox

The Oakland A's beat the Chicago White Sox 3 to 2 at U.S. Cellular Field. Justin Duchscherer pitched a gem for the A's allowing only two runs in seven innings. Closer Huston Street closed out the ninth to pickup his 16th save of the year. After the game Street talked about Duchscherer, "He's got the lowest ERA in the world right now. I remember looking up in the first inning and going, 'What's going on?' when they were scoring those runs against Justin. Guess what? You look up in the ninth and it's still the same score."
Javier Vazquez pitched the complete game for the White Sox in the loss. The loss snapped a seven game win streak by the White Sox.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4.

Angels beat A's 7 to 4

The Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland A's 7 to 4 on Wednesday afternoon. The win gave the league leading Angels a 5 1/2 game lead on the A's.
Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with two rbi's and a stolen base.

Angels take game two of series with A's

The Oakland A's Mark Ellis smashed a two out home run in the top of the eight to break a 2-2 tie on Tuesday night. It was the ninth home run of the season for Ellis. Ellis was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and an rbi. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Los Angeles Angels scored three in the bottom half of the inning to capture the victory 5 to 3.

Athletics pick up a came on Angels

The Oakland A's picked up a game on the league leading Los Angeles Angels by beating them 6 to 1 on Monday night. The Angels now lead the A's by 3 1/2 games in the American League West. The teams play a three game series through Wednesday.
Mark Ellis was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a stolen base.

Ellis talks contract extension with A's

Second bagger, Mark Ellis is in his third and final year of his contract with the Oakland A's. He reportedly will earn 5 million for this season. Ellis seems to be happy in Oakland and fits in perfectly with the team philosophy.
Mark Ellis' agent Jamie Murphy has had contract extension conversations with Oakland A's assistant general manager David Frost. Ellis said, "It's only been a couple of conversations, so we'll see where it goes from there. But it's nice we're talking."
A's general manager Billy Beane is arguably the best in baseball and spoke with Ellis about staying in Oakland before the season. "He was just kind of feeling me out a little to see if I wanted to stay," Ellis said.
The Oakland A's have had more success this year than expected by most. Going into the year, the A's were full of young players and expectations were for a rebuilding season. Ellis thoughts, "We have a lot of good, young players here, and we're always going to have a chance to win here. That's what makes me want to stay. Any player just wants a chance at winning, and it's always been that way since I've been here."
A's shortstop Bobby Crosby would like Ellis to stay as well, "He makes my job easier. Obviously, I'd love to have him here next to me as long as possible."
Ellis would like to see something done before the end of the year, "If I were to stay here, I'd rather it get done before the season ends. If you're happy somewhere and you have a chance to stay, might as well just get it done." His response is typical of Ellis, get the small things right and the game will take care of itself.

Hitless Dodgers win

For only the 5th time in Major League Baseball history a team held hitless for the game still gets the victory. That's what happened Saturday night between the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. Angel pitchers Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to keep the Dodgers hitless in the game. The Dodgers scored a run in the fifth inning on a pair of errors by the Angels. Dodger pitchers Chad Billingsley, Jon Broxton, and Takashi Saito combined for an Angel shutout.

Giants unleash the runs

The San Francisco Giants ripped off 11 runs Sunday afternoon to beat the Oakland A's 11 to 1. A's pitcher Joe Blanton continues to struggle he allowed eight hits and seven runs in four innings pitched. Blanton's record is now 4 wins and 11 loses with a 4.97 ERA. Blanton's explanation after the game, ''It's kind of hard not to be frustrated. It was just another standard day for me. I felt well going out but the numbers looked like crap by the end of the day. It's like it's over before you know it. That's how it's been this season for me.'' That about sums it up.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk.

Giants win pitching duel

San Francisco Giant pitcher Tim Lincecum threw an amazing game Saturday against the Oakland A's getting the win 1 to 0. Lincecum pitched seven shut out innings allowing only five hits and striking out 11. Lincecum picked up his ninth victory of the year against just one loss. Justin Duchscherer got the loss, allowing only one run on two hits. ''It's one of those games that you hope to win when you throw a game like that,'' Duchscherer said. "You just have to tip your hat to the other guy. I felt good coming into the game and I thought I made some good quality pitches.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Beating Giants

For the seventh time in a row, the Oakland A's bested the San Francisco Giants 4 to 1 on Friday night. Dana Eveland pitched 7 1/3 innings for the A's allowing only one run on five hits. The A's pitching continues to be amazing, leading the entire league with a 3.35 ERA.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 2 with two walks on the night.

A's Harden sharp in victory

The Oakland A's Rich Harden pitched eight innings giving up two hits and striking out 11 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. Harden's era is 2.15 on the season. Oakland A's manager Bob Geren on Harden's night, ''I can't think of a more dominating performance than that one. When he's on, he's almost un-hittable.'' The A's took 2 of 3 from the Phillies in the series.
Second Bagger Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. Ellis has been in a slump since going 3 for 5 and getting ejected on Sunday.

Phillies slow A's down

Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick pitched eight innings allowing four hits and no runs. Kyle's pitching was lights out, leading his team to a 4 to 0 victory over the A's. "It was nice when we scored in the first,'' Kendrick said. ''That kept things pretty loose. Everything was pretty smooth until the eighth. It felt like I threw more pitches then the rest of the game.''
Mark Ellis returned from illness to line up in the lead-off spot and went 0 for 4 with two strike outs.

A's beat National League Phillies

The Oakland A's Emil Brown three run home run in the seventh inning to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night. Mark Ellis was ill and did not play.

Ellis gets tossed?

The Oakland A's handed the Florida Marlins a 7 to 1 loss on Sunday. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Mark Ellis was ejected from the game after throwing his helmet and making a jester of distaste for the called third strike by the umpire. Oakland A's manager Bob Geren rushed to Ellis' defense and was also ejected from the game. "I think it was more of a miscommunication," Geren said. It was the first ejection of Ellis' career.
Mark Ellis was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

Marlins win 6 to 4

The Florida Marlins beat the Oakland A's 6 to 4 on Saturday night. Dan Uggla had a three run double in the ninth off of A's closer Huston Street to win the game.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 walks.

A's take on the Marlins

Second baseman Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins were in town to begin a three game interleague series with the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. It turned out to be a real dandy of a game with the A's edging out the Marlings 7 to 6 in the 11th inning. Kurt Suzuki came through in the clutch with a walk-off single. Mark Ellis was 0 for 5 with two strike outs.

National League Florida Marlins second bagger Dan Uggla is batting .297, OBP .377 and has 23 home runs.

Diamondbacks take series with A's

The Arizona Diamondbacks Justin Uptown pounded a home run in the eighth inning to take the lead and capture a 2 to 1 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday afternoon. The Diamondbacks took the series with the win and continue to lead the National League West over the Los Angeles Dodgers by 4.5 games. Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk.

Diamondbacks stirke back

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Dan Haren has been looking forward to meeting up with his old team the Oakland Athletics since being traded in the off season. On Wednesday night he throw a gem to welcome his old friends to Arizona allowing one run on four hits in seven innings pitched. He also recorded a three run double lifting the Diamondbacks over the A's 11 to 1. Second baseman Mark Ellis was hit on his left hand by a pitch in the eight inning. It does not appear to be a major injury. A's manager Geren said,"it's not a real concern at the moment." Before the injury, Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with two strike outs.

A's rattle the Diamondbacks 15 to 1, Ellis homers twice

The Oakland A's lead by second baseman Mark Ellis' two home runs, scored 15 runs to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in interleague play Tuesday night. Ellis put on an offensive exhibition going 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring four runs, driving in four runs, and walking twice. 2006 Cy Young award winner, Brandon Webb pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks allowing seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. Justin Duchscherer pitched for the A's and was pretty stiff allowing only one run on five hits in eight innings pitched. Teammate Mark Ellis talked about Duchschere as a possible All-Star team pitcher, "I don't know who our All-Star is going to be, but he deserves it as much as anybody. It's fun playing behind him." Mark also talked about his two home run night, ''Tonight felt good. It's a nice ballpark to hit in. The ball carries real well.'' Ellis said he was expecting more of a pitching battle tonight with Webb being one of the best this year, "You kind of expected more of a pitchers' duel tonight. We were able to take advantage of some pitches." The A's are three games back of the Angels for first place in the American League West.
The second bagger continues to poor it on in the month of June. Ellis is batting .309 with 10 runs scored and 8 rbi's for the month.

A Giants sweep for the Athletics

Dana Eveland pitched the Oakland A's to 5 to 3 victory over the Giants on Sunday. The A's completed the series sweep and moved to within 3.5 games of the division leading Angels. Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with a run scored.

Make it two in a row against the Giants

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain tallied eleven strikeouts but allowed three earned runs in seven innings pitched on Saturday night against the Oakland Athletics. The A's Rich Harden would best Cains performance allowing only one hit and no runs through six innings picking up the win 4 to 0. Mark Ellis was 2 for 5 with a run scored and assisted with two double plays.

Interleague play

In the seasons second scheduled interleague play, the Oakland A's beat the San Francisco Giants 5 to 1 Friday night. Former A's pitcher Barry Zito received the loss allowing six hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings. He talked about his struggles since leaving Oakland, ''I can't sit around and pity myself and get depressed. I can't afford that luxury.'' Since leaving the A's and signing a $126 million dollar contract with the Giants his won/loss record is a dismal 13-23.
The second bagger Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a walk.

Grand slam by Matsui

Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the New York Yankees the lead and a 4 to 1 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday night. Mark Ellis scored the games only run for Oakland. Ellis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Yankees score three in the ninth to lose 8 to 4

Justin Duchscherer throw seven innings allowing one run and one walk beating the visiting New York Yankees 8 to 4 on Wednesday night. The A's scored six runs in the third inning alone. The Yankees made the score look better than it was by tallying three meaningless runs in the top of ninth. Oakland A's second baseman Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a run scored an rbi and a walk.

Yankees get the best of the A's in seasons first meeting

The Oakland A's grounded into four double plays on the way to dropping the seasons first meeting with the New York Yankees 3 to 1. Yankees pitcher Chien Ming Wang allowed only one run and seven hits in 7 innings pitched. Oakland's only run came from an rbi double by the second bagger Mark Ellis. Ellis was 3 for 4 with an rbi.

Ken Griffey Jr hits 600th home run

Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th career home run on Monday night against the Florida Marlins. Baseball fans have been waiting for this historical moment since Griffey hit number 599 on May 31st. He is the sixth man to reach the 600 home run plateau and now joins the greatest long ball hitters of all time Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth. Some say Griffey would be the Home Run King if he hadn't missed the equivalent of four seasons due to various injuries. He is 38 years old and will probably have a few seasons left before retiring and becoming a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Grand freaking slam for Ellis and a walk off victory

For the second time this season, Mark Ellis homered to capture an A's victory. With two outs, in the bottom of the 12th-inning, Ellis hit the first pitch from Angels pitcher Chris Bootcheck off the left field foul pull for his third career grand slam and a 7 to 3 victory. ''Off the bat I thought I got it, then it took a hard left and I wasn't sure,'' Ellis said. ''This one I had my doubts about. We really needed that.'' The A's prevented the sweep by capturing the series finale. "It would have been tough to lose all three games,"Ellis said. "That's the best part of baseball, you always have another at-bat." Ellis finished the game 2 for 6 with a run scored and 4 rbi's.
The walk-off grand slam wasn't the only unusual happenings in the game. Oakland pitcher Rich Harden threw exactly nine pitches in the first inning striking out the side. He is the first A's pitcher to accomplish the feat since Lefty Grove in 1928.
A's pitcher Brad Ziegler pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief to record the victory. After the game he was super excited about being a part of the historic game, keeping the lineup card as a keepsake. "This is the kind of game you're never going to forget. I've never seen a walk-off granny before," he said.

Angels pitching shines again

Angels Pitcher John Garland pitched seven innings allowing five hits and two runs with eight strike outs in Saturday nights victory over the Athletics 5 to 3. The A's managed only three runs on seven hits and struck out ten times. Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 at the plate.

Los Angeles 3 Oakland 1

Los Angeles Angels Pitcher John Lackey out dueled Oakland A's Joe Blanton in Friday night's American League West showdown. Lackey allowed only one run on four hits in seven innings pitched, while Blanton gave up three runs on seven hits in seven innings. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia summed up the great pitching after the game, ''Joe Blanton pitched well and is always tough on us. John Lackey matched him pitch for pitch and we were able to get a lead and hold on. John has really found his groove since he came off the disabled list. His stuff has always been sharp since he came back.''
Oakland must string together some wins against the Angels if they hope to keep it close in their division. Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 in the game, but contributed on two double plays.

American League Standings through June 5, 2008

American League
West	W-L	GB
Los Angeles	37-24	-
Oakland	33-27	3.5
Texas	31-31	6.5
Seattle	21-39	15.5
Central	W-L	GB
Chicago	33-26	-
Minnesota	31-29	2.5
Cleveland	27-33	6.5
Detroit	24-35	9.0
Kansas City	23-37	10.5
East	W-L	GB
Boston	38-25	-
Tampa Bay	35-25	1.5
Toronto	32-30	5.5
New York	30-30	6.5
Baltimore	29-30	7.0

SWEEEEEP!

The A's swept the Tigers with a 10 to 2 win on Wednesday. The Tigers continue to struggle and the A's continue to play the game well, taking what the opposition gives them. Tiger Pitcher Nate Robertson allowed five runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 with a walk for the Oakland A's.

Athletics pull it out in eleven

The Oakland Athletics pulled out another one run victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, winning in eleven innings 5 to 4. Two nights in a row Oakland has used clutch hitting to get a late run for the victory. Last night, Jack Cust hit an infield single allowing Kurt Suzuki to score the winning run. The Tigers were hunted by walks allowing 10 in the game. Manager Jim Leyland after the game, ''The walks killed us. Their walks burned us. We should have scored 10 runs. We can't make the mistakes we made and win major league games.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with a walk batting lead off for the A's.

Oakland A's 3 Detriot Tigers 2

Bobby Crosby's single in the ninth inning proved to be the difference on Monday, as the A's beat the Tigers 3 to 2. ''I was looking for a fastball over the plate and he threw me a split on the first pitch,'' Crosby said. ''He made me look foolish. It was awful. Once it went to 1-1 I thought he had to throw a fastball.''
Mark Ellis, in the first inning, hit a sacrifice fly to give the A's a 1-0 lead. As Ellis does often, he knew the situation and put the ball in play which in turn put his team in position to win.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 2 with a walk and an rbi.

The Second Bagger Statistics May 2008

	Batting Avg	On Base %	Slugging %	Runs	Home Runs	Fielding Errors
Mar/April	.261	.331	.378	12	2	1
May	.213	.333	.377	10	2	1
Total	.237	.332	.378	22	4	2

Mark Ellis statistics through May.

Sunday baseball game

The Oakland A's were in Arlington to take on the Rangers, Sunday afternoon. The Rangers held the lead 7 to 4 through the sixth, then in the top of the seventh Oakland rallied for nine runs. Mark Ellis lead off with a single, then a walk by Travis Buck, Carlos Gonzalez doubled Ellis home. Seven runs later, Ellis was up once again. He battled with Ranger pitcher Tejeda through 12 straight pitches before homering to left. ''You know you're going to get some hits when you come here, and it's not because of the pitchers,'' Ellis said after the game, referring to the hitter friendly Arlington Stadium.
Josh Hamilton hit his 15 home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Mark Ellis 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a rbi.

Texas 8 Oakland 4

Josh Hamilton hit a 3 run home run to lead the Rangers over the Athletics 8 to 4 on Saturday afternoon.
Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Texas Rangers 3 Oakland Athletics 1

The Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton has been one of the best hitters in the league this year. Hamilton has a league leading 58 rbi's in 55 games played this year. On Friday night he was 2 for 4 with two runs scored, leading the Rangers over the A's 3 to 1. Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Blue Jays find a groove

The Toronto Blue Jays found their groove on Thursday afternoon beating up on the Oakland A's 12 to 0. The Blue Jays punished A's pitcher Dana Eveland for eleven hits and seven earned runs in just four innings of work. Toronto pitcher Jesse Litsch had a career game allowing no runs in seven innings pitched. The A's just couldn't get anything going. Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk. Check for the monthly and yearly Ellis statistical breakdown coming soon.

Toronto 2 Oakland 1

Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Roy Halladay pitched eight innings giving up just one earned run on Wednesday night against the Oakland A's. He picked up his sixth win of the season with a help from an rbi double in the ninth inning by Alex Rios that clinched the game 2 to 1. Mark Ellis was 0 for 2 with two walks.

A's 3 Blue Jays 1

Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk in the A's 3 to 1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Reds hope to get a boost from Bruce

Cincinnati Reds top prospect Jay Bruce took center field for first time as a major leaguer on Tuesday night. He has been tagged by some as the top prospect in all of the major leagues. In his debut he was 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored, 2 rbi's, and 2 walks leading the Reds to a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates 9 to 6. We will have to wait and see if Bruce can live up to all the hype.

Oakland best Boston again

The Oakland A's topped the Boston Red Sox 6 to 3 on Sunday. It was Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester's first outing after his historic no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings of work. The hot hitting Oakland A's swept Boston in their three game series.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk.

A's blank Boston 3 to 0

The A's beat the Red Sox 3 to 0 on Saturday night, with help from Pitcher Justin Duchscherer. Justin held Boston hitless into the seventh when David Ortiz singled. Huston Street came in and closed out the win. Mark Ellis was 1 for 3.

He's back!

Mark Ellis returned to the Oakland A's lineup with a bang Friday night. His three run home run in the fourth inning was his fourth of the year and helped lift the A's over the Boston Red Sox's 8 to 3. After missing nine games due to a hamstring injury, Ellis was happy to be back in the lineup. "To have to just sit there and watch is just such a helpless feeling," he said. "To be honest, you feel a little bit guilty, because you know how hard everyone's going, and you're just there doing nothing. It's awful." Ellis was 1 for 4 with 3 rbi's and a run scored. Oakland's head coach Bob Geren talked about Ellis after the game, "He's kind of our quiet leader on the field. He knows where to be and what to do at all times." Bobby Crosby was equally excited to get his double play partner back, "Just looking over at him makes you feel like you have a better chance to win that night," he said. "He could go 0-for-4 and make an error, and he's still probably going to do something to help you win the game."
Ellis also commented on Boston's Tim Wakefield, "With [Wakefield], it's always hit and miss. It's never easy, that's for sure. I actually thought he had a really good knuckleball tonight. ... It might not look like it because of the home runs, but he really did have a good one tonight."
Rich Harden pitched a gem for the A's allowing only four hits and two runs in six innings of work. He is now 3 and 0 on the season. In the fifth, Harden took a ground ball from Dustin Pedroia's off his leg, but Ellis scooped it up and hook shot the ball to Crosby at second for the out. Harden's take on the play by Ellis "It was great. There's not a lot of guys who make that play." Ellis put his usual easy going slant on the topic, "It was the only way I could get the ball there," Ellis said with a big smile. "When I went off the field, I was laughing. I don't think I've ever made that throw before. It was like lobbing a grenade."
Late in the game Boston was attempting to rally when Jacoby Ellsbury attempted to steal second base. The throw form A's cather Kurt Suzuki was late, but Ellis used his great fundamentals and kept the tag on Ellsbury. Sure enough Ellsbury's momentum carried him off the bag and Ellis was awarded the out. "He's the best second baseman in the league, in my opinion," A's Coach Geren said. "He's a very important part of our defense. ... Mark's one of the smartest players I've ever been around."
I whole heartedly agree. Ellis makes everyone better.

Eleven hits and nine runs, A's win

The Oakland A's cruised to an easy 9 to 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon. Oakland was lead by super strong pitching from Dana Eveland who pitched the complete game giving up just one run. The third and fourth hitters in the A's lineup, Bobby Crosby and Jack Cust, combined for 5 hits, 6 rbi's and4 runs scored. No word or sighting of Mark Ellis. His replacement the last few games has been a young Gregorio Petit from Ocumare, Venezuela. He is 5 for 15 with a run scored in his time as the replacement 2nd bagger.

Ray's 3 A's 2

The A's pitching staff gave up 3 runs in the top of the eighth to the Rays on Tuesday night. The Rays went on the win 3 to 2. Mark Ellis did not play.

Rays beat Oakland dramatically

The Tampa Bay Rays beat Oakland 7 to 6 in 13 innings on Monday night. Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer in the 13 to take the lead, Oakland then scored one run in the bottom half to come to within one run. Mark Ellis did not play.

Atlanta 5 Oakland 2, Chipper Jones

The Atlanta Braves beat the Oakland A's 5 to 2 Sunday. The Braves are led by veteran third basemen Chipper Jones, he is having one of the best years of his career. His batting average is .410, on base percentage is .475, he's slugging at .679, and has 11 home runs. The last player to hit .400 average for a complete season was Ted Williams in 1941. I would love to see Chipper chase the elusive mark, let's hope he can keep it up.

Mark Ellis missed his sixth straight game but looks to be ready for the coming home series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Coach Bob Geren said, "He's very close," when asked about Ellis' recovery from a hamstring injury.

Atlanta 4 Oakland 5

Oakland used home runs from Jack Cust and Ryan Sweeny to edge the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. Mark Ellis did not play.

Atlanta 3 Oakland 2

Atlanta used an Mark Kotsay's two rbi double to left them past the Oakland A's in interleague play Friday night. Mark Ellis did not play.

A's score but lose to Indians

The A's broke the Indians 44 inning scoreless streak by scoring two runs in a 4 to 2 loss on Thursday night. Mark Ellis remained day to day.

Ellis to play this weekend

Interleague plays begins on Friday, and the A's will be traveling to Atlanta to take on the Braves.
Mark Ellis will not play today against the Indians but may be ready for this weekend. "I'm not gonna play here; there's no way," Ellis said before the second game of a three-game series against the host Indians at a soggy Progressive Field. "Friday is the best-case scenario, but I don't want to put any days on it. I feel a lot better today, though.
About five minutes before the team had to be on the field to stretch out, Ellis was alone in a smallish concrete bunker between the clubhouse and dugout, throwing a baseball against a wall and catching the rebound.
"Do I look bored?" he said with a laugh. That is why I follow this guy, he's a kid, living many a young boys dream.

Monday's game

Indians 2 Oakland 0. The Indians C.C. Sabathia pitched a complete game shutout. No news on Ellis.

Ellis out for a few

Mark Ellis strained his left hamstring on Sunday running out a double and is being held out of th Tuesday night game against the Indians. "He's officially day-to-day," A's manager Bob Geren said before the opener of a three-game series against the Indians at Progressive Field. "He got treatment today. He doesn't feel too bad." The Indians made several great defensive plays leading them to the victory 4 to 0.

The A's score 12 runs to beat Rangers

Thirteen hits equaled twelve runs and a win for the A's on Mother's Day. With the score 6 to 6 in the top of the seventh, Bobby Crosby doubled and then moved to third on Ellis' single. Texas relief pitcher Franklyn German attempted to pick off Ellis from first base, but Crosby broke for home and beat the throw giving the A's a one run lead. The A's piled on runs in the eight and ninth, easily taking the victory 12 to 6. After hitting a double, Mark Ellis left the game in the ninth for a pinch runner, he sustained a minor hamstring strain. He's listed as day-to-day. Mark Ellis was 3 for 5 with a run scored and a stolen base. He also recorded his second fielding error of the season.

Oakland A's lose to Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers collected another win Saturday, beating the A's 6 to4. Kevin Millwood, the starting pitcher for the Rangers, threw 12 pitches before coming up lame with a groin injury. The Texas Rangers bullpen stepped up to the plate, and pitched to a victory.

Mark Ellis 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Texas blanks Oakland 4 to 0

The Texas Ranger's pitched their third consecutive shut out Friday night over Oakland. The A's managed only 4 hits and never got things going in the game. Texas on the other hand is red hot winning 10 of 14 games. It was a slow night for the A's lineup and Mark Ellis was 0 for 3.

Walk off home run for ELLIS

Mark Ellis went deep in the tenth inning to give the Oakland A's a 6 to 5 win over Baltimore. It was the first walk off home run in Ellis' career. "It's neat. It's a cool thing, something you can play your whole career and not do,'' Ellis said. ''It's fun to run around the bases and see your teammates at home plate. ... It feels good to contribute. It was a pretty bad slump.'' He also said, "Incredible, I've never hit a walk-off homer before ... just to see all my teammates waiting at home plate ... incredible." It was Ellis' third home run of the year. He was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 runs scored, and an rbi. It was his most offensively productive day of the season. The win capped the series sweep of the Orioles and the fourth win in a row for the A's.

Oakland 4 Baltimore 2

Justin Duchscherer (3-1 record) pitched with authority for the Oakland A's on Tuesday night, holding the Orioles to two runs on four hits in seven innings. The Oakland bull pen, Embree and Casilla, closed out the game by not allowing any hits. Oakland won the game 4 to 2.

Mark Ellis was o for 3 with a run scored and an rbi.

A's in ten over Orioles

The Oakland A's scored a run in tenth inning from an Emil Brown single to beat the Baltimore Orioles 2 to 1. Brown is 13-for-28 (.464 avg) with runners in scoring position as opposed to 14-for-68 (.206 avg) with the bases empty. Manager Bob Geren spoke after the game, ''When Frank walked I knew we had a good chance. He has an elevated concentration in those situations. He tries to keep the ball in the middle of the field and when you talk about RBI situations, that gives you a better chance.''

It was a slow night for the second bagger Mark Ellis, he was 0 for 5 at the plate with one assisted double play.

Texas 3

The Oakland A's topped the Texas Rangers 3 to 1 on Sunday afternoon. The A's Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk.

Texas 2

The Texas Rangers outscored the Oakland A's 6 to 3 Saturday night. A.J. Murphy pitched his first big league game of the season for the Rangers. He was called up to fill holes for the Texas pitching staff that has three members on the disabled list. The Rangers extended their winning streak to four games. Oakland seemed to have a little trouble getting things going off of Murphy and then went hitless against the Texas bullpen.

Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a walk and a double play assist.

Texas to Oakland

Texas handed the Oakland A's a one run loss 4 to 3 on Friday night. The A's got 3 runs in the 4th inning but couldn't score late when they needed it. The A's were very sloppy defensively tallying four errors. The second bagger Mark Ellis had the night off, until pinch hitting in the bottom of the seventh inning. He was 0 for 2 on the night.

Series split for the A's

The Oakland A's played smash ball Thursday night in Anaheim, collecting 20 hits and 15 runs against the Angels on Thursday night. The A's beat up on Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart winning the game 15-8. Jack Cust made an error on an easy fly ball in the second inning allowing the Angels to rally and score five runs with two out. Cust made up for the error by starting the A's own 8 run scoring 5th inning with a home run. Cust was 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored and one rbi on the night. Mark Ellis chipped in on the fun and was 1 for 5 with a walk.

The Second Bagger Statistics March/April 2008

Mark Ellis 2B Oakland A's

Batting Avg	On base %	Slugging %	Runs	Home Runs	Fielding errors
.254	.331	.390	14	2	1

Ellis historically starts the season off slow, this year seems to be concurrent with that. His fielding is impeccable again this year and really makes him valuable and irreplaceable for his team.