Justin Wayne (baseball)

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Justin Wayne (baseball) is a former American professional pitcher who played for the Florida Marlins in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2004. Born April 16, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii, he batted and threw right-handed. He debuted in the majors on September 3, 2002, and last appeared on July 25, 2004. In MLB, he went 5–8 with a 6.13 ERA and 37 strikeouts.

High school and college
Wayne attended Punahou School in Hawaii, where he played baseball, soccer, and cross country and earned All-Hawaii honors. He then attended Stanford University, where he starred as both a reliever and starter. His 1998 freshman season included a 6–0 record with 6 saves, earning freshman All-American honors. He played summer ball in the Cape Cod League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. In 1999 he moved into a starting role, going 10–0 as a sophomore. In 2000 he was co-Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year with a 15–4 record and 3.21 ERA as Stanford reached the College World Series final. He finished his Stanford career with 363 strikeouts, second in school history at the time. He also pitched for the U.S. collegiate national team in 1998 and 1999.

Draft and early pro career
Wayne was drafted fifth overall by the Montreal Expos in the 2000 MLB draft, choosing to leave Stanford after his junior year and sign for a $2.95 million bonus. He spent 2001 in the minor leagues with Harrisburg (Double-A), posting a 9–2 record and a 2.62 ERA. In 2002 he pitched for Portland (Triple-A) and earned the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honor before being traded to the Florida Marlins in July 2002. In his MLB debut season, he appeared in 23 2/3 innings with a .244 opponent batting average.

Major League career
From 2002 to 2004, Wayne totaled 26 MLB appearances (eight starts) with the Marlins, going 5–8 with a 6.13 ERA, 37 strikeouts, and 36 walks in 61 2/3 innings. He had a strong record in certain situations, holding hitters to a very low average with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Later years and life after baseball
In 2005 Wayne signed with the Dodgers and appeared for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s before moving on to the Kansas City Royals system and, later, the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League. He finished his playing career in 2005–2006 and then spent time in finance before moving into the medical industry. He later became Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of SMART Lab in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Personal notes
Wayne is Jewish and earned his economics degree from Stanford, finishing in a little over three years. His brother, Hawkeye Wayne, played college baseball at Columbia and signed with the Seattle Mariners, and their father, Jeffrey Wayne, played at Buffalo. In 2018 Justin Wayne was sentenced to two years in federal prison for a fraud scheme involving insurance payments tied to a drug treatment center. Hawkeye Wayne received a 40-month sentence in the same case.