Weber a man of unwavering will

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This article was published 16/06/2015 (4082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most guys with a story like Jon Weber’s would have packed it in long ago.

Sure, the 37-year-old has a lot to show for his career. He could fit each of his fingers and thumbs with championship rings. The bling continues around his neck with a shiny gold medal won at the 2009 Baseball World Cup. But beneath all of the hardware are a lifetime’s worth of bumps and scars on a man forever hopeful of getting an at-bat in the big leagues.

“It’s tough. There’s a lot of heartaches, a lot of bellyaches and a lot of broken dreams,” Weber said. “But it’s the ones that are strong and have the drive that no one else has… those are the ones who have the Cinderella stories. Those are the Seabiscuits. And I’m so much more of an underdog than Seabiscuit. That fuels my fire, that’s what keeps me going.

“That’s what it always should be. You never know who’s watching, you never know who’s in the stands and what could happen. I could be that one guy that gets lucky. Guys get lucky every year.”

In his second stint with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, one of the 20-plus teams the former Oakland Athletics draft pick has played on throughout his professional career, Weber could fill a book’s worth of pages recounting things he’s seen.

“I’ve been to a lot of finals and I’ve been to a lot of championships,” he said. “I’ve won a lot and I’ve lost a lot. And nothing is better than the feeling of winning a championship. It’s why I wake up every day and come to the yard.

“I’m a baseball player that hates losing, that wants to win every day. I’m a father, a brother, a son — I’m all of those things. But most of all I’m a good person. That’s what I want to be remembered as. That’s the legacy I want to leave: that I was a good baseball player that left it all on the field and was a good teammate.”

After taking a deep breath, Weber is able to list each team he’s played for. And while he can’t recall all of his teammates, the “boys” from his gold-medal-winning team in 2009 are forever etched into the walls of his mind.

“You could add everything up and nothing would come close to that gold medal,” Weber said, concluding he wouldn’t trade it for even one at-bat in the majors. “It was a feeling that you just can’t describe. I caught the last out. It was a dream come true. To hear them play the national anthem. Those guys I will never forget.”

‘I was making the most amount of money in my career, but they broke my heart. They ripped it out of my chest and stepped on it in front of me by not taking me with them when camp ended’

— The Goldeyes’ Jon Weber on being cut from the New York Yankees

The 2009 season was perhaps the best of Weber’s Triple-A tenure and helped him secure a trip to the Big Apple.

Weber was invited to New York Yankees spring training in 2010. Everything was looking great for the native Californian. He led the Yankees with a .483 batting average and was voted the team’s top rookie in camp. But it wasn’t to be in the city that never sleeps.

“They broke my heart when they sent me down to Triple-A,” Weber said. “I didn’t want to play, I hated it. I was making the most amount of money in my career, but they broke my heart. They ripped it out of my chest and stepped on it in front of me by not taking me with them when camp ended.”

Weber was given another chance when the Detroit Tigers came calling right before the all-star break. The Tigers assigned Weber to their Triple-A affiliate in Toledo, but a drug test after his first game resulted in a positive test for marijuana and a subsequent 100-game suspension by Major League Baseball.

“Bad timing… bad luck,” he said. “It was my fault. S–t happens, what am I going to do? I made my bed and I’m going to lay in it. I’ve served my suspension and am clear to go. You just never know.”

Weber’s hope is unwavering, evident in each word he speaks. Even as murmurs from people questioning his choice to keep playing grow by the day, Weber believes he could still get his chance. His decision to continue hasn’t come without cost — he blames it for his divorce. But he remains as steadfast as the 21-year-old rookie who stepped onto the field back in 1999.

‘If I’m out here producing and helping my team, why would I quit?’

“If I quit, what the hell am I showing my kids?” he said. “What kind of role model am I being to my son and my daughter if they ask why I quit. Did I get hurt? No. So why did you quit? That sounds like crap.

“I’ll know when to hang ’em up when I can’t produce anymore on the field and I am holding my team back from success. That’s when I will quit. If I’m out here producing and helping my team, why would I quit?”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca