Jonathan Brian Weber (born January 20, 1978 in Lakewood, California) is a professional baseball player. An outfielder, Weber bats and throws left-handed. Considered a journeyman, Weber has played professionally in minor league baseball since 1999, without playing in Major League Baseball.
Weber played collegiately for Los Angeles Harbor College and Texas Tech University before embarking on his professional career in 1999. As a professional, he played in the minor league organizations of the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers. He has also played independent league baseball in the unaffiliated Frontier League, Northern League, and American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. Weber has competed for the United States national baseball team, winning the gold medal at the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Amateur career
Weber was born in Lakewood, California. He attended Lakewood High School in Lakewood, California. There, he played for the school's baseball team, known as the Lancers, graduating in 1996.
Out of high school, Weber was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the thirty-first round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft. However, he chose not to sign with the Athletics, opting to attend college. He began his college baseball career at Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) in 1997. At LAHC, Weber was a NJCAA All-America selection.
In 1999, Weber transferred to Texas Tech University to compete in the NCAA Division I during his junior year. At Texas Tech, he played college baseball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball team in the Big 12 Conference. Weber led the conference with eight triples, setting a Red Raiders team record in the process. He was named the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and Big 12 Baseball Player/Pitcher of the Week for the week of February 1, 1999. Weber became the fourth player in Texas Tech history to hit for the cycle.
Professional career
1999–2004
Weber signed his first professional contract with the Cincinnati Reds as a non-drafted free agent in August 1999. He made his professional debut that summer with the Rookie-level Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League, recording a .238 batting average, .365 on-base percentage (OBP) and .500 slugging percentage (SLG) with five home runs and 17 runs batted in (RBI) in 22 games. The next year, he hit .221 with a .333 OBP and .333 SLG with six home runs and 34 RBIs in 108 games for the Single-A Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League. However, Weber was released by the Reds after the season. He felt the Reds "treated [him] like a non-prospect".
In 2001, Weber played independent league baseball for the Canton Crocodiles of the Frontier League. He batted .307 with a .382 OBP, .559 SLG, 18 home runs and 69 RBI in 84 games, being named to the Frontier League post-season All-Star team. He led the Frontier League in home runs and triples. Canton sold Weber to the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the independent Northern League in 2002, where he hit .296 with a .351 OBP, .501 SLG, and 30 doubles for Fargo-Morehead, placing fourth in the league in doubles. Back with Fargo-Moorhead to open 2003, he batted .309 with a .408 OBP and .520 SLG through 52 games, as the team went on to win the Northern League championship.
However, in July 2003, the Oakland Athletics organization purchased Weber's contract from Fargo-Moorhead. With the Athletics organization, Weber hit .361 with a .394 OBP, .626 SLG, seven home runs and 48 RBIs in 35 games with the Single-A Advanced Modesto A's of the California League for the remainder of that year. In 2004, he hit .280 with a .356 OBP, .458 SLG, 15 home runs and 68 RBI in 111 games with the Double-A Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, and hit .341 with a .383 OBP, .568 SLG, two home runs and 12 RBI in 12 games with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), helping the River Cats win the PCL championship.