David Justice

David Justice
Justice in 2011
Outfielder
Born:(1966-04-14)April 14, 1966 Cincinnati, Ohio,U.S.
Batted:Left Threw:Left
MLB debut
May 24, 1989, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 2002, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average	.279
Home runs	305
Runs batted in	1,017
Teams
Atlanta Braves(1989–1996) Cleveland Indians(1997–2000) New York Yankees(2000–2001) Oakland Athletics(2002)
Career highlights and awards
3×All-Star(1993,1994,1997) 2×World Serieschampion (1995,2000) NL Rookie of the Year(1990) ALCS MVP(2000) 2×Silver Slugger Award(1993, 1997) Braves Hall of Fame

David Christopher Justice(born April 14, 1966) is an American formerprofessional baseballoutfielderanddesignated hitterwho played 14 seasons inMajor League Baseball(MLB). He won theWorld Serieswith theAtlanta Bravesand theNew York Yankees,won theNational League Rookie of the Year Awardin 1990, and has been named a three-timeMLB All-Star.

Early life

Justice was raisedCatholic,and attended high school atCovington Latin School,a Catholic school across the river from his hometown ofCincinnati, Ohio.He later attendedThomas More CollegeinCrestview Hills,Kentucky, on a basketball scholarship.

Professional career

Atlanta Braves

Justice made his major league debut in May 1989,playing for theAtlanta Braves.The then 23-year-old right fielder earned the starting job after Braves fan favoriteDale Murphywas traded to thePhiladelphia Philliesin August 1990.Justice promptly went on an offensive tear during the second half of theseason,finishing with 28home runs,which helped him claim theNational League'sRookie of the Year Award.In 1991, the upstart Braves surged to the top of their division and Justice was leading the National League inruns batted inwhen he was sidelined by a nagging back injury in June.He finished with 87 runs batted in despite the injury and played in his firstWorld Series.

After seeing his production slide slightly in 1992, Justice enjoyed a solid1993 season.He clubbed 40home runsand 120runs batted in(RBIs) with 78walks,finishing third inMVPvoting behindBarry BondsandLenny Dykstra.Justice wasbatting.313 with a.427on-base percentageand.531slugging averagewhen thestrikeended play in 1994. When baseball returned in 1995, Justice helped his Braves to theWorld Seriesagainst theCleveland Indians.He drew attention (and boos) when he criticized Atlanta fans for the level of support they were providing the team.However, Justice ended up a hero when his crucialhome runin Game 6 provided the only run in a 1–0 game that clinched the championship.

In May 1996, a swing and miss in a game against thePittsburgh Piratescaused a season-ending shoulder separation.

Cleveland Indians

Before the 1997 season, the Braves traded Justice along withoutfielderMarquis Grissomto theCleveland IndiansforoutfielderKenny Loftonandrelief pitcherAlan Embree.He hit.329 with a.418OBPand.596slugging averagein 1997, with 33home runs,while making anotherWorld Seriesappearance. He posted solid numbers in 1998 and 1999 with the Indians. In 2000, he hit a combined.286 with a.377OBPand.584slugging average,and slugged 41home runswith 118 RBIs.

New York Yankees

On June 29, 2000, the Indians traded Justice to the New York Yankees forJake Westbrook,Zach Day,andRicky Ledée.Justice won theLeague Championship Series Most Valuable Player Awardfor the2000 American League Championship Seriesen route to his second world series championship.Between the Indians and Yankees, Justice hit a career-high 41 home runs in 2000. Justice hit the disabled list with a groin injury in June 2001.He reaggravated the injury a month later.As a result, his production slid considerably in 2001.

Oakland Athletics

The Yankees traded Justice to theNew York Metson December 7, 2001, for third basemanRobin Ventura.Mets GMSteve Phillipsthen sent him to theOakland Athleticson December 14 in exchange for pitchersMark GuthrieandTyler Yates.He played a final season on an Oakland team which reached the playoffs in 2002 and was named the American League Player of the Week for the first week of the season.His addition to Oakland was referred to as an "experiment" by A's assistant GMPaul DePodesta.The experiment was to evaluate whether hitters retained their ability to get on base as they got older (kept their batter's eye). His.376OBPand BB/K ratio of greater than 1:1 seemed to prove that correct. Justice was a part of the A's20 consecutive game winning streakin2002.

Career totals

Justice finished his career with a.279 batting average, with a.378 OBP and.500slugging percentage,929 runs, 1,571 hits, 280 doubles, 24 triples, 305 home runs, 903walksand 1,017 RBIs in 1,610 games. From 1991 to his last season in 2002, Justice's teams made the postseason every year (with the exception of the strike-shortened 1994 season). Of those times, he made theWorld Seriesseven times, winning twice. He is in the top ten in a number of career postseason categories, such as at-bats, games played, hits, doubles and runs scored.

Honors

On May 9, 1994, Justice was listed inPeople's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue (Vol. 41 No. 17). The article goes on to state: "'I check my face to make sure there's nothing sticking on it,' he says. 'But I don't make sure every hair's in place.' He needn't worry. He gets the most fan mail on the team and is mobbed when he makes personal appearances on behalf of charities."

In March 2007, it was announced that Justice would be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. He was the first member of any of the Braves' 14 consecutive division title teams (1991–2005, excluding the strike-shortened season in 1994) to be inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame. The induction took place on August 17, 2007. Numerous ex-Braves players and coaches were in attendance and tribute videos from Braves legendHank Aaronand former ownerTed Turnerwere shown. Prior to that evening's game Justice was presented with a portrait by sports artist Bart Forbes during an on-field ceremony.

Justice was eligible for theMajor League Baseball Hall of Famein 2008,but he received only one vote, preventing him from being named on future ballots.The timing of the vote may have adversely affected his candidacy, as it was held shortly after the release of theMitchell Report.Justice was one of 86 players named in the report.

Mitchell Report

In an interview for theMitchell Report,released December 13, 2007, Justice denied using performance-enhancing substances, but was willing to report the names of individuals he suspected, though he claimed to have no direct knowledge of any other player's steroid use. He also claims to have never been warned of the side effects ofsteroidsor explicitly told steroids were a banned substance. The Mitchell Report states that in a later interview, formerNew York Metsclubhouse attendantKirk Radomskiclaimed to have sold Justice human growth hormone when Justice was with the Yankees after the 2000 World Series. Justice has called the allegation "a bald-faced lie" and says that he has never met Radomski.

Justice has claimed that his only involvement with performance-enhancing drugs was a discussion aboutHGHin 2000 withBrian McNamee,then theNew York Yankees' strength coach. Justice, who had shoulder problems, thought that HGH might aid in his recovery. Justice stated that after the discussion, he went to his locker and found a bag containing HGH and several injection needles; Justice claimed that he was unwilling to inject himself and never used any of it. Justice further stated in the interviews that all claims in the Mitchell Report concerning his alleged purchase and use of any performance-enhancing drugs were false and encouraged all players whose names appear in the report, especiallyRoger Clemens,to publicly deny any claims made by the Mitchell Report if they are untrue.

Broadcasting career

After his playing career, Justice served as a commentator forESPNbaseball telecasts for two years. He later joined theYES Networkof theNew York Yankeesas a game and studio analyst, and also hosted the network's youth-oriented program Yankees on Deck.Prior to the 2008 season, the YES Network announced that Justice would not appear on air during that season,but would contribute articles to the network's website. Justice stated that this change was not in response to his inclusion in the Mitchell report, but was due to the destruction of hisSan Diego Countyhome in the2007 California wildfiresand the recent passing of his mother. Justice never returned to the network.

Justice has also appeared on a 1992 episode ofThe Young and the Restlessand a 1997 episode of Arli$$.He was played byStephen BishopinMoneyball,the film adaptation of the best-selling Michael Lewis bookMoneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Gameabout the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager,Billy Beane.

Personal life

On New Year's Day 1993, Justice married film actressHalle Berry.The couple resided inSandy Springs, Georgia.They separated on February 22, 1996, and divorced on June 20, 1997.The marriage ended acrimoniously, with Berry seeking arestraining orderagainst Justice. He married Rebecca Villalobos on February 8, 2001.Villalobos is CEO of Exotic Spices Calendars.They have three children: David Jr., Dionisio, and Raquel.In 2014, the family was on an episode ofCelebrity Wife Swap,inspiring Raquel to pursue acting.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
• List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report

External links

• Career statistics and player information fromMLB,orESPN,orBaseball Reference,orFangraphs,orBaseball Reference (Minors),orRetrosheet
• David Justiceat Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)