Whatever happened to…Mark Bellhorn?

Photo courtesy of First Coast News

I had been mulling over doing a “Whatever happened to” on various members of the 2004 Red Sox for a while now. Watching the A’s today and seeing Alan Embree come into the game brought it back to my mind. Then a friend sharing a link to a video on Mark Bellhorn sealed it.

So my first installment of “Whatever happened to” is dedicated to Mark Bellhorn. 🙂 (As a side note, friend of the RSC’s, Alexis, has already been to two games in Jacksonville to watch Bellhorn play and KellyO will be making a trip to Jacksonville next week!)

Between 2005-2007, Bellhorn bounced around from Boston to New York to San Diego to Cincinnati, with many trips to the minors tucked in. He went from playing 115 MLB games in 2006 (in San Diego) to playing 13 MLB games in 2007 (in Cincinnati). For someone who was a post-season hero in 2004, many Red Sox fans were sad to see Bellhorn’s career take such a turn.

In 2008 he’s found a new home. He’s surfaced with the Jacksonville Suns – the AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But don’t you go feeling sorry for the former Red Sox infielder.

“You’d like to be the young guy coming up with your future ahead of you,” the 33-year-old Bellhorn said with a smile. “At this point in time, I’m just trying to hang on for a couple of more years or however long this thing takes me.”

He’s 33 and he’s one of the ‘old’ guys. Good lord, this world we live in. Anyway, Bellhorn is still doing what he loves, which is getting to play baseball…and get paid for it.

After the (2007) season ended, Bellhorn opted for free agency and began searching for a new baseball home.

“Nothing came up,” Bellhorn said. “I just kept in shape and this opportunity came about. I haven’t played in this league in 12 years – I think it is – but it’s the only thing I had and I still think I’ve got a couple years in me. So I decided to play and see what happens.”

In spite of the way many so-called fans treated Bellhorn in 2005, he had a decent following while he was in Boston (and after he left). MarkBellhorn.net, a site created and maintained by a Bellhorn fan, is still up and running (and updated as recently as a week ago). Bellhorn’s exit from Boston was ugly. A rough start to the 2005 season was made worse for him with the verbal abuse Bellhorn took from many of the fans at the park (and via the Boston sports radio shows). His poor play resulted in his getting dfa’d not long after a stint on the disabled list and from there his path lead to the Bronx.

I can honestly say Bellhorn has been the only player, out of any of the guys from 2004 who ended up with the Yankees, who I didn’t hold becoming a Yankee against him. That might be hypocritical, but I don’t care. Not holding it against him, though, didn’t make it any less painful to watch when he started playing for them. Ripped my heart out.

Bellhorn had ten years in the majors, which is an accomplishment in itself. Add to that the World Series ring and he’s immortalized in Red Sox history. When he returned to Fenway in a Yankees uniform, he got a better reception than he had earlier in the season when he wore red socks. I hope, in his mind, the good ends up outweighing the bad.

A personal note about Mark Bellhorn. I used to take my dad to quite a few ball games, starting back with opening day 2001. He stopped going with me during the 2005 season. I assumed it was because he was getting older and the trek into Fenway was a bit much for him. I think now that’s probably the case. But in 2005, when he started declining my offers to go to games, I finally pressed him about it and he told me the truth. He didn’t like going to the games because every time the fans started booing Bellhorn he had two emotions, one was that he wanted to fight with any jackass who was doing it and the other was that he felt terrible for Bellhorn. It upset him to no end that “fans” would treat one of their own that way. As it did me. (I obviously didn’t inherit my father’s self control for I got in many arguments that season with asswipes who not only booed Bellhorn, but Embree and Millar as well. )

I really hope Mark knows there were as many fans cheering for him as there were booing…maybe more…unfortunately, a lot of those fans were at home. The rest? Well, boos always seem to carry better than cheers, don’t they?

First Coast News has a story, accompanied by a video, of Mark in action. If you’re looking for a Bellhorn fix, check it out.

Good luck, Mark. And thanks for being one of the 25. This fan will never forget it!