Oakland Athletics
Ellis made his Major League debut on April 9,2002,for the Athletics against the Texas Rangers,pinch-running in the eighth inning for Jeremy Giambi. He remained in the game and ground out to short in the 10th inning. [5] He recorded his first base hit,in his first Major League start,on April 18 against the Anaheim Angels,a single to left field off of Ramón Ortiz. [6] His first home run was hit on June 28,2002,off of San Francisco Giants pitcher Jay Witasick. [7] For the 2002 season,his batting was .272 in 98 games. Ellis hit .248 the following season,but missed the entire 2004 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder resulting from a collision with shortstop Bobby Crosby in a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs. [8] In 2005,he returned to the Athletics and led the team in batting average (.316),on-base percentage (.384),and slugging average (.477) as the team's regular second baseman.
In 2006 Ellis established what was,at the time,a single-season American League record for a second baseman with a .99685 fielding percentage, [9] beating the mark previously set by Brett Boone in 1997. For the 2006 season the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for second basemen went to Mark Grudzielanek of the Kansas City Royals,who finished with a lower fielding percentage of .994,though won the award as a result of winning the vote of MLB managers and coaches;Ellis’single-season record was broken the following year by Plácido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers,who made no errors during the season for a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
Ellis missed most of the A's 2006 post-season due to a hand injury suffered during Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins. [10]
On June 4,2007,Ellis became only the sixth player in Oakland Athletics history to hit for the cycle. On July 23,2007,he had his first career multi-home run game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On August 5,2007,he tied the A's team record for consecutive error-less games by a second baseman at 70 games.
Ellis missed the last two months of the 2008 season due to cartilage damage in his shoulder. He underwent successful surgery that also fixed a torn labrum from a previous injury. [11]
In October 2008,the Athletics signed Ellis to an $11 million contract through 2010,with an option of extending the deal an additional season. [12]
Los Angeles Dodgers
On November 15,2011,Ellis signed a two-year,$8.75 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. [15]
After a strong start,Ellis's leg was severely injured on May 20,2012,by a hard slide from Tyler Greene of the St. Louis Cardinals while Ellis was attempting to turn a double play. Initially saying that he was okay,Ellis did not go to the hospital until the following day when he experienced extreme discomfort and swelling in his lower leg. After performing a fasciotomy to allow room within his leg for the swollen muscle tissue,his doctor later said that Ellis might have lost his leg if the surgery had been performed only six or seven hours later than it was. [16] [17] [18] Doctors said Ellis' injury was a rare one for athletes,but more common for victims of car accidents. [16] [17] Ellis was expected to be out for six weeks and did not rejoin the Dodgers until July 4.
Overall,he appeared in 110 games for the Dodgers in 2012,hitting .258 with 7 home runs and 31 RBI.
In 2013,Ellis remained relatively healthy and played in 126 games. He hit .270 with 6 home runs and 48 RBI,helping the Dodgers win the National League West Division's championship and a first-round playoff series over the Atlanta Braves before the team was eliminated in the National League Championship Series.
St. Louis Cardinals
Ellis signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on December 16,2013. [19] He was placed on the disabled list with an oblique strain on August 19,2014,after hitting a career-low .192 for the Cardinals. [20]
On February 25,2015,Ellis announced his retirement. [1]
