Justice For The Fans Indians Star Does His Best To Ensure Fans Enjoy Positive Memories

Just talking to the Cleveland Indians’ David Justice makes you feel good. When was the last time you heard a ballplayer say he knows you’re out there watching?

He means you - the fans.

And it makes Justice feel good to know you are there.

“When I think about the World Series, I think about sellout crowds,” he said. “There have been times when I’ve just stopped and stared at all the people in the stands.”

There’s more.

“How can you not be excited when there are millions of people watching on TV?” he asked. “I think of all the fans watching in sports bars, hanging on every pitch.”

This is not some rookie just blabbing away during his first time on the World Series stage.

Justice is 31. This is the fourth time his team has been to a World Series.

But the man loves it - all of it.

The games. The fans. The pressure, hype and attention.

Justice just keeps smiling. He keeps saying the best thing that ever happened to him was being traded to Cleveland - and how he loves this team, these fans. To prove it, he agreed to a four-year contract extension that runs through 2002.

Then he went out and hit .329 with 33 homers and 101 RBIs. He hit .300 against New York and Baltimore in the postseason. And his single off Kevin Brown drove in the first run of Game 2, setting the tone of the Tribe’s 6-1 victory.

There are even more impressive numbers for Justice, but all you really need to know is this guy is a big-time player. Think back to Game 6 of the 1995 World Series. Justice was with the Braves, and the Series had just returned to Atlanta. Justice had been awed by the raucous Cleveland crowds at Jacobs Field.

He spoke out, saying what many of his Atlanta teammates were thinking: Why were Braves fans so subdued? Why couldn’t they be more like the people in Cleveland?

On the morning of Game 6, Justice’s name was in the headlines - blasting his fans.

“I really put myself on the spot,” he said. “I’ll tell you, there is no one who prays more than me. I mean that. But on that day, I prayed even more. I asked God to help get me through this.”

Justice’s words indeed served as a spiked shoe to the emotional butts of Braves fans. They cheered harder for their team that day than at any time in the Series. But Justice was booed, until he faced the Tribe’s Jim Poole in the sixth inning.

With one of his majestic swings, Atlanta had a 1-0 lead. That turned out to be the only run of the game, the home run that brought Atlanta its first World Series championship.

“The fans wanted me to fail,” he said. “They came to see me fall flat on my face. I grew up a lot that day, and going through that experience made me a better person.”

The Indians and Justice have come together at a great time for both of them. The Tribe desperately needed a productive bat in left field after watching Albert Belle bolt to the Chicago White Sox. Justice and the Braves were on uneasy terms and his career was marred by major injuries to his back, knee and shoulder.

“People forget that I didn’t play any baseball after May (1996) until this spring,” he said. “I had serious shoulder surgery. I was scared that I’d never be able to swing the bat hard, that I might never play again.”

When the Indians made the Kenny Lofton deal, they believed Marquis Grissom would be a solid, but not as spectacular a replacement in center field. But they hoped Justice would come back from shoulder problems.

Would he be the guy who hit 40 homers in 1993, or was he doomed to a career cut short by injuries? That was the question on general manager John Hart’s mind, but he received word Justice desperately wanted to prove he could still play.

“I welcomed the trade,” Justice said. “I prayed to God and said, ‘Well, it looks like you and me are going to Cleveland.’ I just wanted to be healthy and play baseball again.”

But what about the pressure of replacing Albert Belle?

“Wait a minute,” Justice said. “Don’t lay that on me. I didn’t replace Albert. That was Matt Williams, remember? They got him to take Albert’s spot in the lineup. And they got Marquis to play center for Lofton.”

So who did Justice replace?

“Alan Embree,” he said. “He was in the deal, right?”

Justice laughed.

Embree was a left-handed reliever who was also in the deal.

“I’m not here to replace anybody,” he said. “I’m just here to be me.”

What the Indians have in Justice is a wonderful athlete with one of the smoothest left-handed swings you’ll ever see. They have a guy who hits left-handed pitching nearly as well as right-handers, a rarity. They have a gritty athlete playing with a brace on his left elbow and a left knee that will need surgery at the end of the year.

They have a man who manager Mike Hargrove says “is a real team leader, a great pro. David Justice doesn’t take any shortcuts out there.”

While Justice came into the big leagues with a star pedigree, he plays the game with a blue-collar heart.

This is what the Tribe players admire about Justice - his toughness and his positive attitude in the dressing room.

Then there’s the part about the fans. Few Tribe players sign more autographs or seem to care more about the customers.

“I feel like coming to Cleveland wasn’t just a chance to play for a new team in a new league,” he said. “It really is like a new life, and I’m going to make the most of it. I like the people here and I appreciate how they’ve supported me.”