John Joshua Labandeira (born February 25, 1979) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player. He played second base/

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Career

Labandeira attended

Monache High School Monache High School is one of the three high schools located in Porterville, California, United States and is part of the Porterville Unified School District (PUSD). It's the city's second high school and as of 2021 serves approximately 2,583 st ...

Porterville, California Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia Metropolitan Area, Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Since its incorporation in 1 ...

, and chose

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

as the college he wished to attend. While at Fresno, he lettered in four different sports:

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. Labandeira majored in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

. As a sophomore, he attended

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally esta ...

Visalia Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

(

Bob Ojeda Robert Michael Ojeda (born December 17, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a member ...

Johnny Estrada Johnny Pulado Estrada III (born June 27, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, and Washington N ...

Jim Wohlford James Eugene Wohlford (born February 28, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1972 to 1986 for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, and ...

and

Steve Stroughter Stephen Lewis Stroughter (March 15, 1952 – March 6, 2018) was a major league baseball designated hitter/left fielder who played for the Seattle Mariners in 1982. He attended College of the Sequoias. Career Stroughter was originally drafted by ...

all attended that college at one point or another as well). In the 6th round of the

2001 Major League Baseball Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ba ...

, Labandeira was drafted by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

after posting superlative numbers in college. In , he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

.367 while belting 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and was a

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

All-Star and the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. On September 17, , Labandeira made his major league debut at the age of 25. In seven games that year, he had a .000 batting average in 14 at-bats. He wore the number 1 during his tenure in the major leagues. He currently ranks 10th on the All-Time list of most career at-bats without a

by a non-pitcher. The record of 23 is shared by

Larry Littleton Larry Marvin Littleton (born April 3, 1954) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played for the Cleveland Indians during the 1981 baseball season. , he shares with Mike Potter the Major League Baseball record for at-bats w ...

and Mike Potter. He spent all of and playing for Harrisburg and Washington's Triple-A affiliate, the

New Orleans Zephyrs New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In July 2005, Labandeira was suspended 15 games for violating the policies in the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. In , Labandeira played for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Triple-A affiliate, the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an el ...

. He became a free agent at the end of the season. On April 22, , he signed a minor league contract with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

. He was released on July 26, 2008. On July 31, he signed with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and became a free agent at the end of the season. He is now an assistant coach on the Reedley College Baseball Team and an area scout for 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

based in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

Personal life

Labandeira was married in January 2007 to college sweetheart, Rebecca Witt and they currently reside in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

External links

Baseball AlmanacValley Sports Pulse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labandeira, Josh 1979 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sportspeople in doping cases Baseball players from Tulare County, California Boston Red Sox scouts Brevard County Manatees players Clinton LumberKings players Durham Bulls players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Harrisburg Senators players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players Omaha Royals players People from Porterville, California Peoria Javelinas players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Vermont Expos players