David Justice

David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Justice made his major league debut in May 1989, playing for the Atlanta Braves.

He won the World Series with the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1990, and has been named a three-time MLB All-Star.

Justice was raised Catholic, and attended high school at Covington Latin School, a Catholic school across the river from his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

He later attended Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, on a basketball scholarship.

The then 23-year-old right fielder earned the starting job after Braves fan favorite Dale Murphy was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in August 1990.

Justice promptly went on an offensive tear during the second half of the season, finishing with 28 home runs, which 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.

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 seven 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.

After seeing his production slide slightly in 1992, Justice enjoyed a solid 1993 season.

He clubbed 40 home runs and 120 runs batted in (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.

On May 9, 1994, Justice was listed in People'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."

When baseball returned in 1995, Justice helped his Braves to the World Series against the Cleveland 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 crucial home run in 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 the Pittsburgh Pirates caused a season-ending shoulder separation.

Before the 1997 season, the Braves traded Justice along with outfielder Marquis Grissom to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Kenny Lofton and relief pitcher Alan Embree.

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 Indians.

In 2000, he hit a combined .286 with a .377 OBP and .584 slugging average, and slugged 41 home runs with 118 RBIs.

On June 29, 2000, the Indians traded Justice to the New York Yankees for Jake Westbrook, Zach Day, and Ricky Ledée.

Justice won the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award for the 2000 American League Championship Series en 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 Listed with a groin in June 2001.

He reactivated the injury a month later.

As a result, his production slid considerably in 2001.

The Yankees traded Justice to the New York Mets on December 7, 2001 for third baseman Robin Ventura.

Mets GM Steve Phillips then sent him to the Oakland Athletics on December 14 in exchange for pitchers Mark Guthrie and 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 .376 OBP and BB/K ratio of greater than 1:1 seemed to prove that correct.

Justice was a part of the A's 20 consecutive game winning streak in 2002.

Justice finished his career with a .279 batting average, with a .378 OBP and .500 slugging percentage, 929 runs, 1,571 hits, 280 doubles, 24 triples, 305 home runs, 903 walks and 1,017 RBIs in 1,610 games.

In March 2007, it was announced that Justice would be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.