Jon Weber: a story of perseverence that just didn't work out

You might have heard of Jon Weber. He is a player who had an incredible spring training this year for the Yankees, but didn't make the team. That's been the story of his entire career- just missed.

Jon Weber was signed by the Reds in 1999 as an undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech University. He just missed being drafted. He started out in the Reds' Rookie ball team, the Billings Mustangs. He hit .238 with 6 doubles, 5 homers, 17 RBI, 16 runs, and a .365 OBP in 22 games. He showed an ability to be a good run producer, but his .238 average was too low. In 2000, he hit just .221 in 1087 games with the Low-A Clinton Lumber Kings, with 14 doubles, 6 homers, 34 RBI, 8 SB, 60 runs, and a .333 OBP. His run producing ability was his only good sign in '99, but he couldn't even do that in 2000, so the Reds released him. Weber signed with the Canton Crocodiles of the independent Frontier League. He did much better with Canton in '01, hitting .307 with 15 doubles, 18 homers, 69 RBI, 16 SB, 60 runs, and a .382 OBP in 82 games. For some reason, no major league team signed him and instead he signed with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the independent Northern League. In '02 with the Redhawks, Weber hit .296 with 30 doubles, 13 homers, 52 RBI, 11 SB, and a .356 OBP in 90 games. No major league team signed Weber again. I find it really amazing that he didn't give up right at this point and pursue another career, but he kept persevering and kept playing.

In '03, Weber started the year with the Redhawks once again, hitting .309 with 8 doubles, 11 homers, 48 RBI, 14 SB, 46 runs, and a .408 OBP in 52 games. Finally, Weber was signed by a major league team, the Oakland A's, and he was assigned to the High-A Modesto A's. He did very well in 35 games with Modesto, hitting .361 with 10 doubles, 7 homers, 38 RBI, 2 SB (Oakland's philosophy is Moneyball), 28 runs, and a .394 OBP. He averaged over 1 RBI per game with Modesto, which is very good. The next year in '04, Weber was assigned to the Double-A Midland RockHounds to start the year. He hit .280 in 111 games at Midland, with 24 doubles, 15 homers, 68 RBI, 10 SB, 64 runs, and a .356 OBP. He then was promoted to the Triple-A Sacremento River Cats and hit .341 with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, 9 runs, and a .383 OBP in 19 games. Still, the A's got rid of him and he signed with the Dodgers. He was assigned to the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. In '05 with the Suns, he hit .300 with 27 doubles, 11 homers, 68 RBI, 10 SB, 81 runs, and a .369 OBP in 117 games. He also made his first career appearance on the mound, giving up 1 run on no hits and 3 walks in .2 innings for a 13.50 ERA. Weber promoted to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51's in '06, but he hit just .258 with 18 doubles, 2 homers, 31 RBI, 9 SB, 39 runs, and a .333 OBP in 82 games. He was released, and he signed with the Diamondbacks organization. He played much better with the Tuscon Sidewinders, Arizona's Triple-A franchise than he did with the 51's. He hit .321 with 18 doubles, 5 homers, 27 RBI, 26 runs, and a .374 OBP in 46 games. He was not retained by the D-backs, and he returned to the independent Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks for the '07 season. Weber was on the Triple-A teams of 3 different major league franchises in a span of 3 years, but he still wasn't called up to the majors. He just missed again.

In '07 with the Redhawks, Weber hit .283 with 5 doubles, 1 homer, 10 RBI, 2 SB, 10 runs, and a .371 OBP in 16 games before being signed by the Rangers and being assigned to their High-A team, the Bakersfield Blaze. Weber hit .356 with the Blaze with 14 doubles, 5 homers, 25 RBI, 9 SB, 34 runs, and a .416 OBP in 37 games before being traded to the Devil Rays for cash and assigned to their Triple-A franchise, the Durham Bulls. Weber hit .265 as a member of the Bulls, with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 21 RBI, 20 runs, and a .360 OBP in 39 games. Weber, who was 30 years old at that time, was retained by the Rays organization after the year (they had just changed their name). In '08 with Durham, Weber once again hit .265, but this time with 24 doubles, 13 homers, 51 RBI, 11 SB, 58 runs, and a .354 OBP in 108 games. Still, the Rays kept Weber for the '09 season. In '09, Weber had his best year since '04, hitting .302 with 46 doubles, 14 homers, 69 RBI, 63 runs, and a .382 OBP. Despite his great year, he was not called up to the majors. After the year he signed a minor league contract with the Yankees.

Weber had a spring training to remember in '10. He hit .452 with 4 doubles and 6 RBI in 18 games. He even won the James P. Dawson award for the best Yankee rookie (remember, Weber still hasn't made the majors) at spring training. But, being a left handed hitter, he didn't make the team. Just missed.

One day. I hope that day comes for him. He also wasn't called up after Curtis Granderson was injured, giving way to Greg Golson. So far in '10 with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees, Weber has hit .258 with 7 doubles, 0 homers, 11 RBI, 18 runs, and a .333 OBP in 47 games.

"Best time in my life and my career that I've ever had. I made it to the final week with the New York Yankees. I'm not righthanded, I'm lefthanded. I have to stay positive, stay focused and hopefully one day I'll get the call."- Jon Weber on his amazing 2010 spring training

One day. I hope that one day comes for him. It won't be with the Yankees- he was released on June 2nd.