Mark Saxon spent three decades as a sports reporter, first at the Oakland Tribune, then the Orange County Register, ESPN.com and The Athletic. Saxon’s career began while he was still completing his Master’s degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. After working his way up from the high school sports desk, he began covering the San Francisco Giants in 1998. That began a two-decade career as a Major League Baseball beat reporter. He switched to the Oakland A’s beat in 2000, where he covered the 2002 Billy Beane-led team of Moneyball fame. In 2003, Saxon moved to the Orange County Register, where he gained recognition from the Associated Press Sports Editors. Six years later, Saxon accepted a baseball writing job at ESPN.com and, in 2016, returned to his hometown of St. Louis to cover the Cardinals. 

After a year of teaching at Webster University’s School of Communications, Saxon returned to the Cardinals beat with the Athletic.com in 2018. He has also worked as a high school teacher and on a fish processing plant in Alaska.