Mark John Hamburger (born February 5, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers in 2011.

Early life

Hamburger attended

Mounds View High School Mounds View High School is a public high school located in Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States. A part of the Mounds View Public Schools district, the high school is located in a suburban area approximately nine miles north of downtown Minne ...

Arden Hills, Minnesota Arden Hills ( ) is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,939 at the 2020 census. Bethel University and its seminary is located in the city. Also, the campus of University of Northwestern – St. Paul straddl ...

and was a multi-sport athlete playing basketball, rugby, tennis, football, and baseball. After graduating from high school in 2005, Hamburger attended and played baseball at

Mesabi Range College The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iro ...

where he posted an 11-0 record and a 0.65 ERA.

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

The summer following Hamburger's season of collegiate baseball, he attended a try-out for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

that was held at the

Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League's (NFL) ...

in 2007. Hamburger was signed by the Twins after the try-out, received a $2,000 signing bonus, and was assigned to the

Gulf Coast League Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, the ...

. During the 2008 season, Hamburger was assigned to the

Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their Major League Baseball, major league aff ...

where he won closer of the year.

Texas Rangers

After two years in the Twins' minor league system, Hamburger was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for

Eddie Guardado Edward Adrian Guardado (born October 2, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher and current bullpen coach. Guardado played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins (–, ), Seattle Mariners (–), Cincinnati ...

on August 25, 2008. Hamburger was called up to the majors for the first time on August 30, 2011.

San Diego Padres

He was claimed off of waivers by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

on June 25, 2012, and placed on their Triple-A team, the

Tucson Padres The Tucson Padres were a Minor League Baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, that competed in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). They were the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team moved to Tucson from Portland, Oregon, for the 2011 ...

Houston Astros

For the second time in 2012, he was claimed off waivers by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

on July 21. In February 2013, Hamburger received a 50-game suspension without pay after a second violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for a drug of abuse.

Second Stint with Twins

On September 4, 2013, the Minnesota Twins signed Hamburger to a minor league deal. He elected free agency on November 6, 2015.

St. Paul Saints

On April 12, 2016, Hamburger signed with the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

Melbourne Aces

Hamburger played the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...

2016-17 season (November - February) with the

Melbourne Aces The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that competed in the Australian Baseball League. Their home field is the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. History On 20 August 2010 it was announced ...

that won the regular season but lost the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

to the

Brisbane Bandits The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...

. He was the league leader for

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

(1.90).Could a humble American Hamburger hold the secret to saving Australian baseball?
Patrick Wood,

ABC News Online ABC News, also known as ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service covers both local and world affairs, broadcasting both nationally as ABC News, and across the Asia- ...

, 2017-02-14

Second stint with Saints

On April 20, 2017, Hamburger signed with the

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. On September 11, 2017, Hamburger was traded to the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. On September 29, 2017, Hamburger was traded back to the

Second stint with Aces

Hamburger returned to the

of the

for the 2017/18 season.

New Britain Bees

On March 23, 2018, Hamburger was traded by the

to the

New Britain Bees The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connectic ...

of the

. He became a free agent following the 2018 season.

References

From open tryout with buddy (Justin Hemauer) to the big leagues.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburger, Mark 1987 births Living people Bakersfield Blaze players Baseball players from Minnesota Clinton LumberKings players Elizabethton Twins players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Twins players Hickory Crawdads players Leones de Ponce baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Melbourne Aces players New Britain Bees players New Britain Rock Cats players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Rochester Red Wings players Round Rock Express players Somerset Patriots players St. Paul Saints players Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tigres de Aragua players Tucson Padres players Yaquis de Obregón players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Australia