Mark Teixeira

Did You Know?

• Teixeira's paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Guyana.
• He supported Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential campaign.

College career

Teixeira was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the ninth round of the 1998 MLB draft but chose not to sign, citing dissatisfaction with how the Red Sox treated him. He instead attended Georgia Tech to play for the Yellow Jackets. In summer 1999, he played for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League, winning the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Award. In 2000, he batted .427 with a 1.319 OPS and won the Dick Howser Trophy as national collegiate player of the year.

Professional career

The Texas Rangers selected Teixeira fifth overall in the 2001 MLB draft, signing him to a $9.5 million major league contract. In 2004, he batted .281 with 38 home runs and 112 RBI, and on August 17 hit for the cycle. The 2005 season saw career highs of 43 home runs and 144 RBI, earning him a Silver Slugger Award, a Gold Glove, and his first All-Star selection, where he homered from the right side. He became the third switch hitter to hit 20 home runs in each of his first three seasons and one of five players to hit 100 home runs in his first three seasons. Traded to the Braves in 2007 for a package including Elvis Andrus and Matt Harrison, then to the Angels in July 2008, he signed an eight-year contract with the Yankees in December 2008. In 2009, he led the AL in home runs and RBI, finishing second in MVP voting, and won the World Series. Injuries—including a calf strain (2012), wrist surgery (2013), various ailments (2014), a shin fracture (2015), and neck spasms with torn cartilage (2016)—limited his later years. He retired after the 2016 season. From 2004 to 2011, he hit at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI each season.

Outside baseball

In August 2011, Teixeira appeared with Alex Rodriguez on the HBO series Entourage. He made a one-night Broadway debut in Rock of Ages on January 29, 2013, playing a bartender. A self-described film buff, he serves on the board of the Greenwich International Film Festival. In 2014, he created and starred in Foul Territory, a parody interview show on the YES Network that earned a New York Emmy nomination. Teixeira is a board member of DREAM, the Greenwich International Film Festival, and the Emerald Corridor Foundation. In 2018, he and a development team announced plans for Quarry Yards, a mixed-use development in Atlanta's Grove Park neighborhood.

Personal life

After signing his first major league contract, Teixeira established a scholarship at his high school in memory of a friend killed in a car accident. He and his wife Leigh Williams, whom he met at Georgia Tech, created the Mark Teixeira Charitable Fund in 2006, supporting six scholarships at three Dallas–Fort Worth high schools. They have three children: sons Jack Gordan and William Charles, and daughter Addison Leigh. His mother Margaret died in December 2015; his father John later married Sherry McCann, mother of Teixeira's former teammate Brian McCann. Teixeira enjoys hunting, golfing, reading, fishing, and Broadway theatre, with Les Misérables as his favorite. A devout Catholic, he completed a business administration degree from Georgia Tech in 2022.