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

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 ...

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 scoring system us ...

. 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 an all-boys boarding school 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. They 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 League ...

in the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, 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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

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 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 ...

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. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Greg Dobbs Gregory Stuart Dobbs (born July 2, 1978), is an American former professional baseball infielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Florida / Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

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, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

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) Amer ...

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 Baseball players from Nevada 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 Sportspeople 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