Justin Barnett Christian (born April 3, 1980) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. 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 ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in 2008 and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in 2011 and 2012.

Career

Amateur career

Christian attended Borel Middle School in San Mateo and then attended

Aragon High School Aragon High School is a public co-educational high school in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). It is located in San Mateo County, a large suburb just outside San Francisco. The school is a ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

from 1995–98, where he played varsity baseball all four years for John Arents and later Mike Trimble. He began his college baseball career with two years at

Skyline College Skyline College is a public community college in San Bruno, California. It is one of three comprehensive community colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District. It was opened in 1969. Skyline College claims an annual population ...

where he was All-Conference for both years. He took the scholarship he had earned to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Auburn metropolitan area, Alabama, Aubu ...

, but transferred after missing most of the 2002 season with a

torn labrum Labrum Latin, defined as "having the edge" * Labrum (architecture), a large water-filled vessel or basin with an overhanging lip * Labrum (arthropod mouthpart), a flap-like structure in front of the mouth in almost all extant Euarthropoda * Bron ...

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

, where he became an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and was voted "Newcomer of the Year." At Skyline he was a shortstop, but was moved to second base at Auburn. He was mostly an infielder at SEMO as well.

River City Rascals

After going undrafted in the

2003 Major League Baseball Draft The 2003 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 3 and 4. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. ''Source:MLB.com 2003 Draft Tracker' First round selections Supplemental first r ...

, he signed with the

River City Rascals The River City Rascals were a professional baseball team based in O'Fallon, Missouri, in the United States. The Rascals were a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 1999 ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

, winning the starting second base job and playing 30 games during the 2003 season. In the fall of 2003, he went back to Auburn as a student assistant coach while trying to set up scout workouts; he set up several of these but was unsuccessful in getting signed. He returned to the Rascals for the 2004 season, where he hit .450 with 26 steals in 30 games.

New York Yankees

The

signed him sight unseen. In 2004, he played on the

GCL Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball ...

and the

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pl ...

. He started the 2005 season with the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Char ...

, where he hit .290 and was promoted to the

Tampa Yankees Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough C ...

, where he hit .306. He ended the season with a combined 55 stolen bases. In , Christian hit .276 with six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 43 RBI and 68

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, third in all of the minor leagues. He started the season with the Double-A

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the D ...

, batting .235 with three home runs, 32 RBI and 18 stolen bases. On June 22, 2007, he was called up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he hit .325, and .271 overall, for the year. On June 24, , he was promoted to the Yankees' major league roster preceding their interleague series with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He started the same day, going 2-for-4 with a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

and two RBI in his major league debut. On July 8, 2008, he stole his first base in the major leagues, stealing third base off

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

relief pitcher

Grant Balfour Grant Robert Balfour (born 30 December 1977) is an Australian former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, and Oakland Athletics. ...

and catcher

Dioner Navarro Dioner Favian Navarro Vivas (born February 9, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Chi ...

. The only two times he was caught stealing, he had fallen down between first and second base or had been leading far off first. Following the 2008 season, Christian was non-tendered by the Yankees, making him a free agent.

Baltimore Orioles

He was signed to a minor league contract by the Baltimore Orioles on January 13, .

Second Stint with Yankees

On May 7, 2010, he was re-signed by the Yankees while playing for the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Base ...

in the independent

Atlantic League The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are loc ...

, and was assigned to the Double-A

, where he broke Kevin Thompson's franchise record for stolen bases and was re-promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on September 6.

San Francisco Giants

On February 5, 2011, Christian signed a minor league contract with the reigning World Series champion

. On September 6, 2011, the Giants purchased his contract and he was called up to the major league squad. Christian started 2012 with Triple-A

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, and ended up splitting the season with them and the Giants. With Fresno, he hit .343/.409/.508 with seven home runs, 35 RBI and 12 stolen bases. With San Francisco, he hit .125/.197/.143 with 2 RBI and two stolen bases. Christian won a World Series ring as a member of the 2012 Giants.

St. Louis Cardinals

On November 26, 2012, Christian signed a minor league deal with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

with an invitation to spring training. He was projected to be starting outfielder for the Cardinals Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

affiliate.

Tampa Bay Rays

Christian signed a minor league deal with the

on January 14, 2014.

Quintana Roo Tigres

Christian also played with Tigres baseball team in Cancun, Mexico.

Life after baseball

Christian is currently a Deputy Sheriff with the

Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is a local law enforcement agency that serves Santa Clara County, California. It provides general-service law enforcement to unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, as well as incorporated cities with ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Justin 1980 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Auburn Tigers baseball players Baseball players from Nebraska Cañeros de Los Mochis players Charleston RiverDogs players Columbus Clippers players Diablos Rojos del México players Durham Bulls players Fresno Grizzlies players Gulf Coast Yankees players Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Redbirds players Mexican League baseball center fielders Mexican League baseball left fielders New York Yankees players Norfolk Tides players Richmond Flying Squirrels players River City Rascals players San Francisco Giants players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Staten Island Yankees players Tampa Yankees players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Trenton Thunder players Yaquis de Obregón players