RetroSimba

Mark Ellis nearly lost a leg when injured playing against the Cardinals.

Less than two years later, a healthy Ellis has joined the Cardinals as a reserve infielder and mentor to second baseman Kolten Wong.

Ellis, 36, a free-agent second baseman, signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals on Dec. 16, 2013. In 11 big-league seasons with the Athletics, Rockies and Dodgers, Ellis has a .265 batting average and 1,311 hits. He ranks third in fielding percentage among active major-league second basemen at .9907, behind Placido Polanco (.9927) and Dustin Pedroia (.9909).

On May 18, 2012, Ellis was playing second base for the Dodgers against the Cardinals at Los Angeles. In the seventh inning, with the score tied at 4-4, Tyler Greene was the baserunner at first for the Cardinals when Shane Robinson grounded to shortstop.

Dee Gordon fielded the ball and tossed it to Ellis, covering second. Greene slid into Ellis, who landed hard on his lower left leg.

Ellis remained in the game and lined out leading off the bottom of the seventh. When the pain and swelling in his leg increased, Ellis was replaced before the start of the eighth. The Dodgers won, 6-5. Boxscore

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly called the play “clean” and “a good, hard slide,” reported Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Greene said he wasn’t trying to hurt Ellis. “There’s nothing going on there,” Greene said. “You’re trying to break up the double play. I don’t think he anticipated me being there as soon as I was. The way he came off the bag into the baseline he almost went right in front of it. I think he mistimed it.”

The next day, before the Cardinals played the Dodgers, Ellis told trainer Sue Falsone the leg still was causing pain. After an examination, Falsone and the Dodgers medical staff got Ellis to a hospital.

Doctors determined Ellis needed an emergency fasciotomy. Surgeons cut a six-inch incision into Ellis’ left calf to drain blood and fluid, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mattingly said he was told by the team’s physician, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, that Ellis might have required amputation of the leg had he not undergone the urgent fasciotomy, MLB.com reported.

“Doc said that if that thing goes another six or seven hours (Ellis) has a chance to lose a leg,” Mattingly said.

Ellis spent five days in the hospital. When the swelling went down, Ellis was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament, according to the Orange County Register.

On July 4, 2012, Ellis returned to the Dodgers’ lineup and resumed being the everyday second baseman. He played 110 games in 2012 and produced 107 hits. In 910.1 innings at second base that season, Ellis committed only three errors.

Previously: How Cardinals pursued trade for Don Mattingly