David Justice | |||
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Outfielder | |||
Born: Cincinnati, Ohio |
April 14, 1966 |||
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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 | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966) is a former American outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves (1989–1996), Cleveland Indians (1997–2000), New York Yankees (2000–2001), and Oakland Athletics (2002).
David was born in Cincinnati, the son of Robert and Nettie Justice. Justice went to Catholic schools; St. Joseph and St. Clement, respectively. He excelled both athletically and in the classroom, skipping the seventh and eighth grades. In high school, Justice was more known for his basketball abilities, becoming the all-time leading scorer in school history, averaging 26.5 points per game in his senior year. He graduated from Covington Latin School in Covington, Kentucky at age 16 in 1982. He then attended Thomas More College on a basketball scholarship, in Crestview Hills, Kentucky majoring in Criminal Justice, and minoring in Psychology. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Justice made his major league debut in May 1989, playing for the last-place Atlanta Braves. The then 23-year-old 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 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.