| Name | David Justice |
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| Position | Right fielder |
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| Bats | Left |
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| Throws | Left |
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| Birth date | April 14, 1966 |
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| Birth place | Cincinnati, Ohio |
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| Debutdate | May 24 |
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| Debutyear | 1989 |
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| Debutteam | Atlanta Braves |
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| Finaldate | September 29 |
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| Finalyear | 2002 |
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| Finalteam | Oakland Athletics |
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| Stat1label | Batting average |
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| Stat1value | .279 |
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| Stat2label | Home runs |
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| Stat2value | 305 |
|---|
| Stat3label | Runs batted in |
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| Stat3value | 1,017 |
|---|
| Teams | |
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| Highlights | |
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David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966) is a former
outfielder and
designated hitter in
Major League Baseball who played for the
Atlanta Braves (1989–96),
Cleveland Indians (1997–2000),
New York Yankees (2000–01), and
Oakland Athletics (2002).
Early life
David was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Robert and Nettie Justice. His father left the family when Justice was two years old. Justice graduated from
Covington Latin School in
Covington, Kentucky at age 16 in 1982. He skipped the seventh and eighth grades. He then attended
Thomas More College in
Crestview Hills, Kentucky majoring in
Criminal Justice.
Baseball career
Atlanta Braves
Justice made his major league debut in May
1989, playing for the last-place
Braves. The young right fielder earned the starting job after
Braves fan favorite
Dale Murphy was traded to the
Philadelphia Phillies. Justice promptly went on an offensive tear during the second half of the
1990 season, finishing with 28
home runs, which certainly helped him claim the
National League's
Rookie of the Year Award. In
1991, the upstart
Braves surged to the top of their division and Justice was leading the National League in
runs batted in when he was sidelined by a nagging back injury in June. He finished with 87 runs batted in despite the injury and played in his first
World Series.
After seeing his production slide slightly in 1992, Justice enjoyed a monster 1993 season. He clubbed 40 home runs and 120 RBIs with 78 walks, finishing third in MVP voting behind Barry Bonds and Lenny Dykstra. Justice was batting .313 with a .427 on base percentage and .531 slugging average when the strike ended play in 1994.
When baseball returned in 1995, Justice helped his teammates to victory in the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians with a crucial home run in Game 6 to provide the only run in a 1–0 game that clinched the championship.
In May 1996, a swing and miss in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates caused a season-ending shoulder separation. It would prove to be Justice's last at bat as a Brave, as he was traded during the final week of Spring Training the following year. On ESPN, Justice stated,
"I love the Braves, so when [Braves president] John Schuerholz looked me in my face and told me 'I'd bet my house and my family that you won't be traded' that's good enough confidence for me coming from a General Manager, and then out of nowhere, one week later I'm gone."
Justice was later traded along with outfielder Marquis Grissom to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Kenny Lofton and relief pitcher Alan Embree.
Cleveland Indians
Justice proved right away that he had many good years left. He hit .329 with a .418
OBP and .596
slugging average in 1997, with 33
home runs, while making another
World Series appearance. He posted solid numbers in
1998 and
1999 with the
Cleveland Indians before his big year in
2000. That season, he hit a combined .286 with a .377
OBP and .584
slugging average, and slugged 41
home runs with 118
RBIs.
New York Yankees
On June 28, 2000, Yankees GM
Brian Cashman finalized a trade with Indians GM
John Hart, sending
Jake Westbrook,
Zach Day and
Ricky Ledee to Cleveland for Justice. The Yankees, who were unable to lure Sammy Sosa or Juan Gonzalez from their respective teams, looked to Justice as a legitimate longball threat. In return, Justice caught fire down the stretch and won the
2000 AL Championship Series MVP Award en route to his second world championship.
Later baseball career
As a result of persistent groin injury, Justice saw his production slide considerably in
2001, and he was traded to the
New York Mets on December 7, 2001 for 3B
Robin Ventura. Mets GM
Steve Phillips then sent him to the
Oakland Athletics on December 14 for LHP
Mark Guthrie and RHP
Tyler 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 GM
Paul 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 .378
OBP and BB/K ratio of greater than 1:1 seemed to prove that correct.
Career totals
Justice finished his career as a .279
hitter, with a .378 OBP and .500
slugging percentage, 305
home runs, 903
walks and 1017
RBI in 1610 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 the
World Series six times, winning twice. As a result of his unprecedented playoff experience, Justice retired holding several postseason records, many of which have been eclipsed since. He is, however, the current all-time postseason leader in at-bats and games played, and is in the top five in several others.
Honors
On May 9, 1994, David Justice was listed in People Magazine'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 David Justice would be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. He was the first member of any of the Braves' fourteen 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 legend Hank Aaron and former owner Ted Turner were 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 the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, however 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 the now-infamous Mitchell Report.
Mitchell Report
In an interview for the
Mitchell 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 of
steroids or explicitly told steroids were a banned substance.
The Mitchell Report states that in a later interview, former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski claimed 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 about HGH in 2000 with Brian McNamee, then the New 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 drugs were false and encouraged all players whose names appear in the report, especially Roger 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 for
ESPN baseball telecasts for two years. He later joined the
YES Network of the
New York Yankees as 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 his
California home by a
wild fire and the recent passing of his mother.
Justice has also appeared on a 1992 episode of The Young and the Restless and on April 20, 2009 it was announced that he would be playing himself in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming adaptation of the best-selling Michael Lewis book about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager, Billy Beane.
Personal life
He graduated from Covington Latin School in 1983.
He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
On December 31, 1992 Justice married film actress Halle Berry. The couple resided in Sandy Springs, Georgia. They separated on February 22, 1996 and divorced on June 24, 1997.
His first son David Jr. (b. 27 December 1999) is with ex-fiancee Nicole Foster.
He married Rebecca Villalobos on 8 February 2001. They have two children together: son Dionisio (b. 7 June 2002) and daughter Raquel (b. 2004).
See also
Top 500 home run hitters of all time
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
References
External links
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Category:1966 births
Category:Living people
Category:African American baseball players
Category:American League Championship Series MVPs
Category:Atlanta Braves players
Category:Baseball players from Ohio
Category:Cleveland Indians players
Category:Major League Baseball announcers
Category:Major League Baseball right fielders
Category:Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners
Category:National League All-Stars
Category:New York Yankees broadcasters
Category:New York Yankees players
Category:Oakland Athletics players
Category:People from Cincinnati, Ohio
Category:Baseball players from Cincinnati, Ohio
Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia
Category:Richmond Braves players
Category:Thomas More College alumni
Category:YES Network
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