Royce Clayton

Royce Spencer Clayton (born January 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball shortstop.

Clayton was born on January 2, 1970, in Burbank, California, and was raised in Inglewood.

His father, Royal Sr., was a car salesman and his mother, Antoinette, worked for Trans World Airlines.

He has an older brother, Royal Jr. Growing up in the middle class, Clayton's parents stressed academics, and did not allow him to play Little League Baseball until he was eight years old.

He began to play as a third baseman.

After attending a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, he began to idolize Cardinals' shortstop Ozzie Smith and switched to playing his position.

Rather than attend nearby Inglewood High School, Clayton attended St. Bernard High School, a private school in Playa del Rey.

He played for the school's baseball team as a shortstop.

Clayton would sometimes take the field with a back flip, which Smith was known to do.

In 1987, his junior year, Clayton had a .448 batting average.

He played in the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section 1-A championship game at Dodger Stadium, but lost to Whittier Christian High School.

He was invited to the U.S. Olympic Festival in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and earned a spot on the United States national under-18 baseball team for the 1987 World Junior Baseball Championships, held in Windsor, Ontario.

The United States won the silver medal, losing the championship game to Cuba.

Clayton had a .513 batting average in 26 games played during his senior year.

The Giants selected him in the first round of the 1988 MLB draft and he made his MLB debut in 1991.

During his senior year in 1988, Clayton signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Southern California (USC) to play college baseball for the USC Trojans on an athletic scholarship.

He chose USC over Florida State University and Loyola Marymount University.

Prior to the 1988 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, the MLB Scouting Bureau named Clayton one of the 25 best amateur prospects in the United States.

In 1988, Clayton hit .259 with 30 runs batted in (RBIs), and 10 stolen bases in 60 games for Everett.

Starting the 1989 season with the Clinton Giants of the Class A Midwest League, Clayton struggled initially, batting below .200 by the end of May.

After batting .310 in June and July, Clayton earn a promotion to the San Jose Giants of the Class A-Advanced California League on July 29.

He batted .120 and 10 stolen bases in 28 games for San Jose after the promotion.

Clayton returned to San Jose in 1990, where he batted .252 in the first half.

Named to the California League's all-star game, he delivered the game-winning hit.

He finished the 1990 season with a .267 average, seven home runs, 71 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases.

He played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox between 1991 and 2007.

As an amateur, Clayton played baseball at St. Bernard High School and for the United States national under-18 baseball team.

In 1991, Clayton played for the Shreveport Captains of the Class AA Texas League.

Clayton played in the Texas League's all-star game.

He batted .280 with 68 RBIs and 36 stolen bases during the 1991 season, helping Shreveport win the Texas League championship.

After the 1991 season, Baseball America named Clayton the best defensive shortstop and most exciting player in the Texas League and The Sporting News named him the best prospect in baseball.

After the Texas League's season ended, the Giants promoted Clayton to the major leagues for their final road trip of the season.

The Giants traded Clayton to the Cardinals, where he succeeded his childhood idol, Ozzie Smith, as their starting shortstop and made the All-Star Game in 1997.

Traded to Texas in 1998, Clayton signed a free agent contract to stay with the Rangers during the offseason.

From 2001 to 2007, he played for Chicago, Milwaukee, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Cincinnati, Toronto, and Boston.

After his playing career, Clayton appeared in the film Moneyball and pursued various business ventures.

The San Francisco Giants selected Clayton in the first round, with the 15th overall selection, of the draft.

He opted to sign with San Francisco for a $195,000 signing bonus rather than attend USC.

The Giants assigned him to the Everett Giants of the Class A Short Season Northwest League.

He has been the head varsity baseball coach at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California, since 2016.