Mark has had a decent if not great career. He has spent the last two seasons with the boys in blue. He has played for them, the A's and the Rockies with most of those years with Oakland. While not great at the plate as he has amassed a batting average of only .265 which includes over 1300 hits, his main contribution is his sure hands at second base. While not as flashy as other players in the game he constantly got the job done and was solid year in and year out. At the end of the 2013 season the Dodgers did not pick up his option for the 2014 season but with the new kid Guerrero coming in to take his spot at 2B I still held out hope that the Dodgers will bring back Mark at a lower price to mentor Guerrero and give the team a reliable back up on the field and maybe one of the last chances for Mark to pick up a ring.
Back in 2012 I acquired Mark's autograph on a team ball ( someday I'll do a post on that whole ball ) but coming into this year I turned my attention once again to doing single signed balls of the players. Went to enough games at Dodger Stadium and yet I was never able to get Mark to sign a ball for me. Through the year I always kept an eye on eBay for a pre authenticated ball of his and most had high buy it nows but I occasionally found some that were not. Finally a couple months ago I was able to win an auction for a PSA variety for just over $16. With the cost of the ball and authentication process combined costing over $25 you just can't beat that price when you factor in time and patience for the signature when here you don't have to as it's already on the ball. The ball collection keeps growing.
Too bad he signed with St. Louis. He would have been a decent fall back option if Guerrero struggles.
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