David Christopher Justice (born April 14, 1966 in Cincinnati, Ohio) 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).
David is 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.
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.
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,
Justice was later traded along with outfielder Marquis Grissom to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Kenny Lofton and relief pitcher Alan Embree.
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 tribute 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.
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 allegation "a bald-faced lie" and says that he has never met Radomski.
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.
Sports & Activities
