Mark Tremell McLemore (born October 4, 1964) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

Early years

McLemore grew up in

Southeast San Diego Southeast San Diego refers to the southeastern portion of the City of San Diego (excluding South San Diego) and the neighborhoods south of State Route 94 ( Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway) and east of Downtown San Diego. There are three official ...

, where he went to

Samuel F. B. Morse High School Samuel F. B. Morse High School is an urban public high school located in southeastern San Diego in the neighborhood of Skyline Hills serving grades 9–12 in the American K-12 education system. Morse, which serves a predominantly socioeconomical ...

with

Sam Horn Samuel Lee Horn (born November 2, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player who spent parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and was an anchor for New England Sports Network, the flagship station of Boston sports team ...

. They were coached by

Bob Mendoza Robert (Bob) James Mendoza (born in San Diego, California) is a former American baseball player and a San Diego Hall of Champions inductee. After retiring from baseball, he continued his education and went on to teach, coach high school sports, a ...

, a

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...

Coaching Legend inductee.

Playing career

McLemore played for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

–,

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

1990,

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

–, Texas Rangers –,

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

–, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. Mark McLemore's primary claim to fame is his nickname "Supersub", which he earned due to his contributions to the –03 Seattle Mariners. He was the club's regular second baseman during the 2000 season, and in 2001 he was replaced by

Bret Boone Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During his career Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He is a third generation professio ...

, who had been acquired during the offseason. With McLemore openly bitter about losing his job, manager

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

appeased him by using him regularly in a variety of infielder and outfielder positions (mainly LF, 3B and SS, but also 2B, CF, DH and RF), with remarkable results. During the 2001 Mariners' record-tying 116-win season, he racked up 409 at-bats, 117 hits, 69 walks, .286 batting average, .384 OBP and 39 stolen bases—all while playing without a regular position.Baseball Almacac: Mark McLemore Stats
/ref> McLemore's statistics dropped steadily from his 2001 peak until he left the Mariners after 2003 as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He retired after one season with Oakland (2004). By having played with Oakland in his final year, he became the first major leaguer to have played for all four teams in the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

since MLB divisions were realigned in 1994 (

Gene Nelson Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director. Biography Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he and his family moved to Seattle when he wa ...

also played for all four AL West teams, but his career ended in 1993, prior to the realignment). He is also one of a handful of players to play for both the Rangers and the Astros, Texas' two MLB franchises.

Post-playing career

McLemore had a brief stint as a color commentator for baseball games on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. He currently serves as part of the Texas Rangers broadcast team, for whom he provides analysis on the pre- and post-game programs on

Bally Sports Southwest Bally Sports Southwest is a Texan regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group (a joint-venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios), and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional ...

. Previously, he also did analysis on the Friday night Texas Ranger broadcasts on TXA21 (KTXA) with Gina Miller before those broadcasts ended after the 2014 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Mark 1964 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from San Diego California Angels players Charlotte Rangers players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Edmonton Trappers players Houston Astros players Jackson Generals (Texas League) players Major League Baseball second basemen Midland Angels players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma City 89ers players Palm Springs Angels players Peoria Suns players Redwood Pioneers players Rochester Red Wings players Sacramento River Cats players Salem Angels players Seattle Mariners players Texas Rangers (baseball) announcers Texas Rangers players Tucson Toros players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople