David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball 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). Justice won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1990, and was a three-time MLB All-Star.
Justice made his major league debut in May 1989, playing for the 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 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.
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.
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.[3] 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.
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.[4] 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. In 2000, he hit a combined .286 with a .377 OBP and .584 slugging average, and slugged 41 home runs with 118 RBIs.
The Yankees, who were unable to lure Sammy Sosa or Juan González 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 series championship. Between the Indians and Yankees, Justice hit a career-high 41 home runs in 2000.
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.[8] 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 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. 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.
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."
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 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, 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 the Mitchell Report.
