Justin Paul Leone (born March 9, 1977) is an American 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 ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

. He is an alumnus of

St. Martin's University Saint Martin's University is a private Benedictine university in Lacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as a boys' boarding school run by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a ...

. Drafted by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

in the 13th round of the

1999 Major League Baseball Draft The 1999 Major League Baseball draft, was the annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1,474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections Supplemental fir ...

, Leone made his Major League Baseball debut with the

on July 2, . He spent the season in the

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

organization, making the Triple-A All-Star team that year, in which he also participated in the

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 ( ...

derby. He was a part of the 2003 USA Olympic Qualifying Team. In , Leone was named Texas League Player of the Year by Baseball America, Mariners Minor League Player of the Year by the Seattle organization and Texas League Player of the Year by Topps while playing for Double-A San Antonio. He started the season off the bench, but was picked to replace

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

Greg Dobbs after Dobbs went down with a season-ending injury. Leone was the first Mariner to hit the KOMO Glove sign in left field during a game against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

to earn a fan $1,000, it was also his first major league home run. He accomplished this two nights in a row. From -, Leone played in 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 ...

organization and became a free agent at the end of the 2008 season. In December 2008, he signed a minor league deal with 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 ...

and was assigned to Triple-A Scranton. On July 31, 2009 Leone was released by the Yankees. On September 1, Leone signed a Minor League contract with the Texas Rangers and was granted free agency on November 9, 2009.

External links

Justin Leone
Minor League Stats and Splits {{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Justin 1977 births Living people Arizona League Giants players Barstow Vikings baseball players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Everett AquaSox players Fresno Grizzlies players Major League Baseball third basemen Oklahoma City RedHawks players Baseball players from Las Vegas Portland Beavers players Saint Martin's Saints baseball players San Antonio Missions players San Bernardino Stampede players San Diego Padres players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players