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Getting To Know John Hester |
General: Has given the Cardinal an experienced backstop by returning to Stanford for his senior season despite being selected in the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft Ranked as the No. 4 senior on Baseball America's 2006 list of Top College Prospects in the nation in the preseason One of the top catchers in the Pac-10 A great defensive catcher who calls a good game and handles the pitching staff well Has a great throwing arm and a quick release Also has offensive pop in his bat and should hit towards the middle of the Cardinal lineup Waited his turn to play behind Ryan Garko (2003) and Donny Lucy (2004) before emerging as the team's full-time starter in 2005.
Cardinal Career: Updated Career Stats Has a .274 career batting average with eight homers, 74 RBI and has 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts over 136 games and 115 starts Has added 67 runs scored, 126 hits, 28 doubles, a triple, 180 total bases, a .391 slugging percentage, 39 walks, 13 hit-by-pitches, a .344 on-base percentage, five sacrifice flies and 11 sacrifice bunts Has a .992 fielding percentage with just seven errors in 899 chances Has posted 37 career multiple-hit games with five of them three-hit contests and one of them a four-hit game Has 20 multiple-RBI efforts, picking up three in a game on four occasions and four in a contest twice.
As A Senior In 2006: Earned NCAA All-Regional honors, picking up multi-hit games in all three of the Regional contests Was 2-for-6 with a double, stolen base and RBI in the championship game versus North Carolina State (6/4), after blasting his first career grandslam in the second inning and going 2-for-4 with a career-high-tying four RBI at Texas (6/3), and 2-for-5 with an RBI in the Regional opener against North Carolina State Has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games Has started 49 of Stanford's 59 contests overall, including Stanford's last 11 games behind the plate after missing the previous eight contests (5/5-14) Scored a career-best three runs at Pacific (5/24) as he was also 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI Had a double and a pair of RBI in his return to the lineup versus Santa Clara (5/16) Scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-1 victory over Pacific (4/10) Was 4-for-5 with his first career four-hit game, his second career two-double contest and two RBI at San Jose State (4/8).
2006 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats
As A Junior In 2005: Earned Stanford's Co-Most Improved Player honors, as well as honorable mention All-Pac-10 Started 58 of the team's 59 games behind the plate and played every inning in each of those 58 starts Tied for fourth on the team with five homers and tied for third with 41 RBI, while hitting .282 Also was a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts to rank fourth on the club in steals Added 34 runs scored, 64 hits, 13 doubles, a triple, 94 total bases, a .414 slugging percentage, 20 walks, a team-high nine hit-by-pitches, a .358 on-base percentage, four sacrifice flies and four sacrifice bunts Posted 19 multiple-hit contests, including four with three hits Tied for fourth on the team with 10 multiple-RBI games, including three with three runs driven in and one with four Had a .991 fielding percentage with just four errors in 458 defensive chances Tied for third on the club with 10 multiple-RBI games, while adding 18 multiple-hit contests Second on the squad with 40 strikeouts Posted a career-high eight-game hit streak from April 1-12, going 13-for-32 (.406) during the run and then put together a seven-game stretch from April 23 - May 7 (10-30, .300) Tossed out 14-of-49 (28.6%) runners attempting to steal against him Allowed just four passed balls, tied for the least among any Pac-10 catcher that qualified for the conference statistical leaders Hit .298 with three homers, 17 RBI and a stolen base in 24 Pac-10 starts Hit .278 with a stolen base at the NCAA Waco Regional and earned All-Regional honors An honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic choice.
2005 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats
6/6 at Baylor (Regional Championship Game) - 3-6, 2B, SB ... career-high-tying hits 5/28 at USC - 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 4 RBI ... career-high RBI 5/22 vs. Arizona - 2 RBI 5/20 vs. Arizona - 2-4, 2B, SB 5/17 vs. Saint Mary's - 2 RBI, SB, 13 PO ... career-high PO 5/13 vs. UCLA - Doubled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to drive home John Mayberry, Jr. with the game-winning run in a 3-2 comeback victory, capping Stanford's three-run ninth 5/6 at California - HR 5/3 at Nevada - 2-4, HR, 3 RBI 4/24 vs. Washington - 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI 4/23 vs. Washington - 2-4, 2B 4/17 at Arizona State - 2-5, RBI 4/10 vs. Oregon State - 2-3, 2B 4/9 vs. Oregon State (Game 2) - 2-2, HR, 3 RBI 4/9 vs. Oregon State (Game 1) - 2-5, RBI 4/2 at Washington State - 2-5, RBI 4/1 at Washington State - 2-5, RBI 3/24 at Pacific - HR ... first homer of season 3/20 at Pacific - 2-4, RBI 2/27 vs. USC - 2-5 2/19 at Texas - 2-5, 2 RBI 2/12 vs. Kansas (Game 2) - 2B, 2 RBI 2/12 vs. Kansas (Game 1) - 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB ... career-high-tying hits 2/6 at Cal State Fullerton - 2-4, 3 RBI 1/30 vs. Fresno State (Game 2) - 3-5, 2 2B, RBI, SB ... first career two-double contest ... career-high-tying hits 1/29 vs. Fresno State - 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI ... career-high-tying hits
As A Sophomore In 2004: Hit .265 with three doubles, seven RBI and a pair of stolen bases in two attempts Also added two sacrifice bunts and a .353 slugging percentage in 17 games played and six starts Posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage by successfully fielding all 34 of his defensive chances.
2004 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats
5/22 vs. USC - Pinch-hit double led to the eventual tying run in two-run eighth inning of 5-4 comeback win 5/18 vs. San Francisco - 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, SB ... drove in two of Stanford's three runs in 3-1 win 4/23 vs. Sacramento State - 2B, 2 RBI 4/13 vs. Santa Clara - 3-5, 3 RBI ... career-high-tying hits ... season-high RBI
As A Freshman In 2003: Hit .154 with a homer and an RBI in 11 games played and one start Perfect in 18 chances in the field.
2003 Individual Game Notes Game-By-Game Stats
6/23 vs. Rice (CWS Championship Series) - First postseason at bat 6/1 vs. Richmond (Regional Championship Game) - Made his postseason debut by catching the ninth inning 5/24 vs. Cal Poly - First collegiate home run with a pinch-hit long ball 5/17 vs. UCLA - Caught the final seven innings after replacing an injured Ryan Garko in the fifth frame 2/22 at Texas (Game 1) - First collegiate hit 2/8 vs. Florida State - Collegiate debut
High School: A 2002 graduate of Marist School, ranked by Sports Illustrated among the top prep schools for sports in the country A two-sport standout as a catcher in baseball and a linebacker in football Selected to the All-County team three times in baseball (2000, '01, '02) and twice in football (2000, 01), as well as the All-State team in his final two seasons in baseball (2001, '02) Was chosen as the 2002 Georgia 4A, Dekalb/Rockdale County and team Player of the Year after hitting .400 with eight homers and 50 RBI Voted into the Atlanta Braves 400 Club (All-State team) and recipient of his school's Dean Hargis Most Athletic Award as a senior Led his squad to the 2002 Georgia 4A state championship, as well as 1999 and 2000 state runner-up showings and Regional titles in each of his four prep seasons (1999, 2000, '01, '02) Paced his football team in tackles in both his junior and senior seasons, and was named the squad's Defensive MVP in his final campaign Coached in baseball by Dan Perez.
Other Amateur Baseball: Played for the Mat-Su Miners for the second straight summer in 2005, hitting .248 with two homers and 13 RBI for the second-place squad that posted a 28-15 overall record and a 22-13 conference mark Had a nice summer season in 2004, helping lead the Miners to the Alaska Baseball League title and a runner-up finish at the National Baseball Congress World Series by hitting .293 with a team co-leading 12 doubles, one triple, one homer and 20 RBI Hit .245 while spending the early part of the 2003 summer with Great Lakes Summer League champion Northern Ohio but was forced to return home prior to the end of the season due to an injury Played with the East Cobb Yankees in 2002, helping the team to a third-place finish at the Connie Mack World Series by hitting .350 with seven home runs and 40 RBI.
MLB First-Year Player Draft: Selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 13th round (387th overall) of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 34th round of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft but did not sign a professional contract.
Getting To Know John Hester
Born: Parents: John and Jo Hester Major: Economics I would describe myself as a person as: Blue-collar Favorite Pre-Game Ritual: Drinking a Coke For me to improve as a person, I need to: Stay ambitious and never be satisfied I pattern my game after: Ryan Garko and Donny Lucy (former Stanford catchers) Greatest Athletic Moment: Playing in Omaha The reason I chose Stanford is: It's the best combination of superior athletics and academics Since coming to Stanford, I have learned: That there is always something new to learn about baseball The thing that sets Stanford Baseball apart from other collegiate baseball programs is: The unparalleled work ethic on and off the field every day Favorite Pro Sports Team: Atlanta Braves Favorite Ballpark: Rosenblatt Stadium I would like to be remembered at Stanford for: Being a member of the team that returned the CWS championship trophy to The Farm Best Advice Received: If you surround yourself with winners then you will learn to succeed For me to improve as a player, I need to: Never be happy with my level of play and know that I can always get better I am most thankful in my life for: The opportunities that I have received that others have not When I played sports as a kid, I pretended to be: Myself in the Major Leagues My parents were right when they told me: I can do anything Earliest Baseball Memory: Hitting a home run when he was eight years old
Last Updated: June 11, 2006