Mark Hallberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Hallberg
San Francisco Giants
Coach
Born: (1985-12-09) December 9, 1985 (age 36)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Marcus T. Hallberg (born December 9, 1985) is an American professional baseball former infielder and current coach. He batted .455 in his high school career. During his junior and senior seasons in high school, Hallberg did not strike out once. He then batted .362 in his three-year college career. In 2006, he was the toughest batter in the NCAA to strike out, at once every 36 at bats. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Hallberg in the ninth round of the 2007 MLB draft. He played five seasons in the minor leagues, before turning to coaching and managing. He is currently the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants.

Early years[]

Hallberg was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His parents were teachers who lived abroad, Hallberg spent his first eight years living in Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and another five years living in Islamabad Pakistan. Hallberg moved from Islamabad, Pakistan to Barron High School in Barron, Wisconsin, going into his Sophomore year of High School. [1]

High school career[]

Hallberg graduated from Barron High School in Barron, Wisconsin, batting .455 in his high school career. [2] During his junior and senior seasons in high school, Hallberg did not strike out once.[3] As a senior, he had a 5–0 win–loss record with an 0.80 earned run average as a pitcher.[4] He was named All-State three times, and was the 2004 Northwest Wisconsin Player of the Year.[4] In soccer, he led the state in scoring as a senior, with 45 goals.[4] He was inducted into Barron High School's Wall of Honor on December 22, 2017.

College career[]

Hallberg attended the University of Illinois Chicago for two years, where he played college baseball for the Illinois-Chicago Flames. In his freshman year for the Flames in 2005, he struck out once every 21.5 at bats, and was the fourth-toughest hitter in the nation to strike out, and batted .354, while leading the league in hits (84) and runs (54).[3] He was named to the 2005 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team, and named a 2005 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball.[4] In 2006, he was the toughest batter in the NCAA to strike out, at once every 36 at bats, and had a .373/.462/.512 slash line.[4] He was named All-Horizon League First Team in both 2005 and 2006.[4]

Hallberg transferred to Florida State University to play for the Florida State Seminoles for his junior year, and in 2007 Hallberg slashed .360/.447/.476 in 250 at bats, while playing shortstop.[5] He was selected as All-Conference First Team for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Third Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, and All-American Honorable Mention by Ping.[6] Overall, he had a .362/.438/.486 slash line for his college career.[7]

Minor-league career[]

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Hallberg in the ninth round, with the 283rd overall selection, of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft, and he played in Minor League Baseball within the Diamondbacks' farm system. He was the 2008 Hawaii Winter Baseball Most Valuable Player, playing for the West Oahu CaneFires, for whom he batted .362 (3rd-best in the league)/.423 (5th)/.483 (9th) in 116 at bats, with 24 runs (2nd), 3 home runs (8th), 21 RBIs (7th), while playing primarily second base.[8][9]

In Hallberg's minor-league career, he played 221 games at second base, 168 games at shortstop, and 121 games at third base.[7] In five minor-league seasons, in which he played as high as Triple-A, he batted .277, retiring after a season in which he had a nagging painful throwing arm injury through which he played.[10]

Coaching and managing career[]

After he retired as a player in April 2012, Hallberg coached the River Falls High School baseball team as he finished his Bachelors degree. Then Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League for four years. He coached for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in 2018 and was their manager in 2019.[11] He previously worked as a teacher and recreational coordinator at the American School of Dubai from 2016-2020.[12]

The San Francisco Giants hired Hallberg as an assistant coach in 2020, and he was named their third base coach following the 2021 season.[11][13]

Education[]

Hallberg holds a Bachelor’s in Health and Human Performance (K-12 Teaching) and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

References[]

  1. ^ "13 Jun 2010, Page 25 - Reno Gazette-Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Mark Hallberg named to Bears' Wall of Honor". Barron News-Shield.
  3. ^ a b "Mark Hallberg: The Nation's Toughest Hitter To Strike Out". UIC Athletics.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "2007 Baseball - Year In Review". www.nolefan.org.
  5. ^ Writer, Dave Curtis, Sentinel Staff. "College baseball changes looming". nydailynews.com.
  6. ^ "Mark Hallberg". www.nolefan.org.
  7. ^ a b "Mark Hallberg - Player Card". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  8. ^ "Mark Hallberg Stats, Fantasy & News". MiLB.com.
  9. ^ "2008 Hawaii Winter Baseball Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "Hallberg retires, joins River Falls coaching staff". Barron News-Shield. Barron, Wisconsin. Mar 7, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Giants complete Gabe Kapler's Major League coaching staff with additions of Mark Hallberg and Alyssa Nakken as assistant coaches". MLB.com.
  12. ^ Zientara, Bob. "Hallberg to coach for San Francisco Giants". Barron News-Shield.
  13. ^ Shea, John (November 9, 2021). "Giants make several coaching moves, promote Mark Hallberg to third-base coach". San Francisco Chronicle.

External links[]

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