Mark Hendrickson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Florida Marlins — No. 30 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
| Born: June 23, 1974 Mount Vernon, Washington |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| August 6, 2002 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 1, 2008) |
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| Win-Loss | 50-58 |
| Earned run average | 5.03 |
| Strikeouts | 501 |
| Teams | |
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Mark Allan Hendrickson (born June 23, 1974 in Mount Vernon, Washington, U.S.) is an American professional athlete. He is one of just 11 athletes to play in both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.[1] He currently plays for the Florida Marlins.
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[edit] High school career
Hendrickson was a three-sport standout in tennis, basketball, and baseball at Mount Vernon High School in the state of Washington. During his sophomore year, Mark was a member of the state championship baseball team and the runner-up state basketball team. Mark was a member of the state championship basketball team during his junior year, where he earned recognition as the co-MVP of the tournament for his play. He was also named team captain, team MVP, and named to the All-Area and All-State teams. A tennis state qualifier, Mark was also named to the baseball All-Area team.
As a senior, Mark led the Bulldogs to a second basketball championship. He was team captain, team MVP, All-Area, All-State, and the state basketball tournament MVP. For his performance on the basketball court, Mark was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year. In addition to his remarkable basketball play, Mark was able to help his team win the state championship in baseball, while also qualifying for state in tennis. He was named the Skagit Valley Herald Athlete of the Year both his junior and senior years.
[edit] College career
Hendrickson starred in both basketball and baseball at Washington State University.
In basketball he was a two-time selection to the All-Pac-10 Conference first team and he ranks second in Washington State history in rebounds.[2] He averaged 13.9 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game during his four years at Washington State.[3] He was also selected to All-Conference teams in baseball.
[edit] NBA & MLB drafts
Hendrickson was drafted multiple times by baseball teams. Right after high school he was drafted in the 13th round in 1992 by the Atlanta Braves, but chose to attend college instead. He was also drafted, but did not sign, by the San Diego Padres in the 21st round in 1993, by the Atlanta Braves in the 32nd round in 1994, by the Detroit Tigers in the 16th round in 1995, and by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 1996 draft.
Upon his college graduation he was selected by the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers (2nd pick, 2nd round, 31st overall) in the 1996 basketball draft and MLB's Toronto Blue Jays (20th round) of the 1997 baseball draft.
[edit] NBA career
Hendrickson elected to play basketball and joined the 76ers, playing part time in 29 games in the 1996-97 NBA season, averaging 2.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings on December 23 1997, appearing in 48 games, averaging 15.4 minutes, 3.4 points and 3.0 rebounds as a reserve player.
Unsigned by the NBA prior to the 1998 season, he signed with the CBA La Crosse Bobcats where he played most of the season. He was picked up by the New Jersey Nets for a couple of brief stints during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons and by the Cleveland Cavaliers for the remainder of the 2000 season. Frustrated by his inability to get more consistent work he decided to give up on basketball and concentrate on baseball.
His final NBA career numbers were 114 games played, 8 starts, 1,508 minutes played, 316 rebounds, 15 blocks and 381 points scored.
[edit] Minor league baseball career
He continued to play semi-pro baseball in the off-season while he was playing basketball and eventually signed with the Blue Jays on May 22 1998 electing to play minor league baseball during the summer while continuing his basketball career. During this period, he pitched for the Blue Jays "A" ball affiliate in Dunedin in 1998 (4-3, 2.37 era, 16 games, 5 starts) and the "AA" Team in Knoxville in 1999 (2-7, 6.63 era, 12 games, 11 starts).
In 2000, after abandoning basketball and turning to baseball full time, he had to refocus his energies on his baseball career. "I was always around baseball," he commented, "but what a lot of people don’t realize, and what I didn’t realize is that I didn’t put in the time and dedication into knowing how to get my arm into shape, how to take care of it, and how to pitch on a regular basis."[4]
He started off the 2000 season back at Dunedin (2-2, 5.61, 12 starts, 1 CG) but was promoted to the "AA" Tennessee Smokies (3-1, 3.63, 6 starts). He spent the next two seasons with the "AAA" Syracuse Chiefs (2-9, 4.66, 38 games, 6 starts in 2001; 7-5, 3.52, 14 starts in 2002).
[edit] Major League Baseball career
Hendrickson made his major league debut for the Blue Jays on August 8, 2002, against the Seattle Mariners as a reliever. It was a rather bleak first appearance. He worked 1/3 of an inning and allowed 5 runs. The Jays stuck with him and he made his first career start on September 7 against the Boston Red Sox, pitching 5 scoreless innings in a game the Jays lost 4-1. His first victory came in his next start, on September 14 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, when he worked six innings, allowed one run and the Jays won 8-4.
He returned to the rotation at the start of the 2003 season and stayed there all year, accumulating a 9-9 record with a 5.51 ERA in 30 starts, with one complete game shutout.
Hendrickson is the only pitcher in Toronto Blue Jays history to hit a home run, which he did against the Montreal Expos on June 22, 2003.
On December 14, 2003, he was traded by the Blue Jays along with Sandy Nin to the Colorado Rockies for Justin Speier. The Rockies immediately flipped him to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Joe Kennedy.
He became a regular member of the Devil Rays' rotation, accumulating records of 10-15 (4.81 ERA) in 2004, 11-8 (5.90 ERA) in 2005 and 4-8 (3.81 ERA) in the first half of 2006.
He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 27, 2006, along with catcher Toby Hall in exchange for Dioner Navarro, Jae Seo and minor league outfielder Justin Ruggiano.
He immediately joined the Dodgers' starting rotation, but ineffectiveness caused him to be moved to the bullpen for the end of the season, where he was more effective. His final 2006 numbers with the Dodgers were 2-7, 4.68 ERA in 18 appearances, 12 as a starter.
In 2007, he was both a starter and a reliever for the Dodgers, showing more effectiveness out of the bullpen.
Hendrickson was not offered a contract by the Dodgers and became a free agent on December 12, 2007.
On January 16, 2008, Hendrickson signed a one-year, $1.5 million dollar contract with the Florida Marlins.
On June 9, 2008, Ken Griffey Jr. hit the 600th home run of his career off a fastball thrown by Hendrickson in the 1st inning of a 9-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Hendrickson is notable for his size, at 6'9". The only players in Major League Baseball as of 2006 who are taller than Hendrickson are Jon Rauch, at 6'11", and Randy Johnson, Andrew Sisco, and Chris Young, who are each 6'10". However, where Johnson is a power pitcher with an overpowering fastball and hard-cutting slider, Hendrickson is more of a groundball pitcher, with a fastball in the high 80s and a decent 12-6 curveball. Hendrickson also has a 10-4 slider, but his slider only reaches the high 70s to low 80s and has significantly less movement than Johnson's. Thus, when Hendrickson has success, it is due to control, movement and location and not power.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- Basketball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- [1]
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