John Graves Hester (born September 14, 1983) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

and the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. On August 28, 2009, on his major league debut, he hit a two-run homer in his first Major League at-bat in a game against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Education career

He attended Marist School in Atlanta before attending

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Hester graduated from Stanford in the spring of 2006.

Major League Career

Arizona Diamondbacks

Hester was selected by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the 34th round of the

2005 MLB Draft The 2005 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory. ''SourceMajor L ...

but did not sign a professional contract. Later he was selected by the

in the 13th round (387th overall) of the 2006 MLB Draft. He was called up to the majors on August 28, 2009, from Triple A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

after

Chris Snyder Christopher Ryan Snyder (born February 12, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles. He bats and t ...

injured his back and was forced to the disabled list. The same night, Hester hit a two-run homer in first career Major League at-bat in the sixth inning of the game against the

off Astros

Wilton López Wilton López (born July 19, 1983) is a Nicaraguan former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies. Professional career López signed with the New York Yankees in 200 ...

after a 2-2 delivery from López.

Baltimore Orioles

Hester was sent to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

on April 30, 2011, to complete a previous trade from December 6, 2010, when the ballclub acquired Mark Reynolds.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On April 24, 2012, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signed Hester and assigned him to the Triple-A

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Based in South Jordan, Utah, the team plays its home games at The Ballpark at Am ...

, according to

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports colum ...

. After playing 39 games for the Angels in 2012, Hester returned to Salt Lake in 2013. He elected free agency in October 2014.

Philadelphia Phillies

On October 22 he signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, which includes an invitation to major league spring training. He was released on June 3, 2015.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal Baseball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, John 1983 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Arizona Diamondbacks players Los Angeles Angels players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Missoula Osprey players Visalia Oaks players Mobile BayBears players Reno Aces players Phoenix Desert Dogs players Gigantes del Cibao players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Norfolk Tides players Salt Lake Bees players Baseball players from Atlanta Marist School (Georgia) alumni Mat-Su Miners players Peninsula Oilers players