John Mayberry, Jr.

John Claiborn Mayberry Jr.

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 230 lb.
• School Stanford University
• High School Rockhurst High School
• Debut May 23, 2009
• Final Game July 24, 2015
• Born December 21, 1983 in Kansas City, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

The son of John Mayberry, John Mayberry Jr. is an outfielder who started playing in the majors in 2009.

Amateur career

Mayberry hit .432 with 9 HR in 74 AB as a high school senior and was projected as a top-10 draft pick. He committed to Stanford University and told teams he would need $3 million to pry him away. The Seattle Mariners chose him in the first round (28th overall pick) of the 2002 amateur draft but failed to come to terms with him; it had been 13 years since they last failed to sign a first-rounder, Scott Burrell. Mayberry was named a second team high school All-American by Baseball America, trailing Prince Fielder, another second-generation player.

John was a regular as a freshman on one of the top teams in the country. He hit .299/?/.454 and Stanford finished second in the 2003 College World Series. As a sophomore, Mayberry hit 16 homers, one behind Pacific-10 Conference leader Jed Lowrie. John batted .333/?/.625 with 62 RBI in 216 AB in 2004. He hit .254 with 2 HR in 59 AB that summer for Team USA, splitting first base with Alex Gordon and backing up Trevor Crowe, Travis Buck and Drew Stubbs in the outfield. The US won the 2004 World University Championship.

Mayberry and Stanford slipped in 2005. John hit .303/?/.479 with 8 homers but made his first Pac-10 All-Conference team as one of four first basemen to split the spot as none stood out. Despite a disappointing junior year, he was still a first-round pick again, as the Texas Rangers took him with the 19th pick of the 2005 amateur draft. Mayberry signed was signed by Rangers' scout Tim Fortugno for a $1,525,000 bonus.

Minor league career

He made his pro debut that year with the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League, where he hit .253/.341/.438 with 11 home runs in 71 games. A first baseman in college, he was moved to the outfield. Baseball America rated him the #8 prospect in the NWL.

In 2006, Mayberry played for the Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League, hitting .268/.358/.479 with 21 homers, 77 RBIs and 117 strikeouts in 459 AB. He was three homers behind MWL leader Jordan Renz and was rated as the #15 prospect in the loop by Baseball America.

He then played in the Hawaii Winter League, hitting .318/.388/.545 for the West Oahu CaneFires and making the All-Star team alongside Nyjer Morgan and Dexter Fowler in the outfield. He would have been second in average had he qualified, third in OBP and first in slugging. His 23 RBI were one behind leader Mark Minicozzi and he tied Minicozzi for second with 9 doubles. He was third in the circuit with 13 extra-base hits. Baseball America named him the league's #2 prospect, behind Joba Chamberlain.

Mayberry started 2007 with the Class A Bakersfield Blaze of the California League and hit .230/.314/.496 in 63 games. Promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders, he batted .241/.307/.453 in 69 contests. Overall, he contributed 30 home runs for his teams.

In 2008, John played for Frisco (.268/.322/.512 in 21 G) and the Oklahoma RedHawks (.263/.316/.474 in 114 G). He hit 38 doubles, 7 triples and 20 home runs.

Mayberry was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Greg Golson, another prospect.

Mayberry began 2009 with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, batting .277/.346/.540 with 8 homers in 37 games. He was then called up to replace Sergio Escalona on the Phillies' roster.

Major leagues

John made his entrance to The Show on May 23, 2009 in an interleague game with the New York Yankees. He played right field and hit 8th while usual right fielder Raul Ibanez played DH. Mayberry grounded out against Andy Pettitte in his first at-bat. His next time up, in the 5th, he hit a 3-run homer off Pettitte to break a 1-1 tie. He doubled in the 7th, his last time up. The homer gave Philadelphia the lead until the bottom of the 9th, when closer Brad Lidge blew the save and the game.

On June 4, 2013, he became the first player in a quarter century to hit two extra-inning homers in a game. With the Phillies trailing the Miami Marlins, 3-2, in the bottom of the 10th, he connected off Steve Cishek to tie the game, then in the 11th, he came up against Edgar Olmos with the bases loaded and sent a line drive over the fence at Citizens Bank Park for a walk-off grand slam. He had only come into the game in the 7th inning, as a pinch-hitter, making him only the fourth player in team history to hit a pair of homers as a substitute. Mike Young of the Baltimore Orioles, had been the last major league player to homer twice in extra innings, on May 28, 1987, also after coming in as a substitute; no player in history had ever had a grand slam among his two extra inning homers, however. In addition, John was the first Phillies player to end a game with a grand slam since Dale Murphy, back on August 6, 1991. Mayberry's feat of two extra-inning homers would then be repeated before the end of the season, by Matt Adams of the St. Louis Cardinals on September 4th. He ended the season at .227/.286/.391 in 134 games, with 11 homers and 39 RBI, failing to take advantage of the opportunity to claim a starting job in the outfield for the long run.

In 2014, Mayberry was strictly a back-up with the Phils, getting into 63 games but amassing only 122 at-bats with a .213 average, 6 homers and 21 RBIs. On August 31st, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for minor league infielder Gustavo Pierre. After the season, he moved to the New York Mets as a free agent. He played 58 games for the Mets but only accumulated 109 at-bats, hitting .165 with 3 homers and 9 RBIs, before he was designated for assignment on July 24th.

Sources

2003-2009 Baseball Almanacs, Hawaiiwinterbaseball.com

This article was also derived in part from an article written by: T.R. Sullivan on MLB.com.

Related Sites

• John Mayberry on mlb.com
• Stanford bio