Royce Clayton


Royce Spencer Clayton is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and has appeared in two films. He is currently the head varsity baseball coach at Oaks Christian School.

Early life

Clayton was born in Burbank, California to Antoinette and Royal Clayton. He played baseball at St. Bernard High School in Los Angeles and signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for the USC Trojans.

Baseball career

San Francisco Giants

He was drafted out of St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey in the first round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants, and made his major league debut for the Giants on September 20,. He played for the Giants for the first five seasons of his baseball career.

St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox

In, Clayton was selected to represent the St. Louis Cardinals at the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He also won a ring in the 2007 World Series since he played 8 games with the Boston Red Sox and started one.

Texas Rangers

In April 2000, Clayton had a heated confrontation in the clubhouse weight room with teammate Chad Curtis that nearly came to blows, after Curtis insisted on turning off rap music that Clayton was playing whose lyrics Curtis objected to.

Post-baseball career

Clayton was hired as the head varsity coach at Oaks Christian School on August 31, 2016 to oversee the high school and middle school baseball programs.

Film appearances

In the 2002 film The Rookie, Clayton is played by Jorge Sanchez in a brief appearance. The 1999 time frame portrayed in the film shows Clayton playing for the Texas Rangers.
Clayton portrayed Miguel Tejada in the 2011 film Moneyball.

Personal life

Clayton's older brother, Royal, Jr., was a star pitcher at UC Riverside and played ten seasons of minor league baseball.
Between 1991 and 2007, Clayton was married to British Olympic sprinter Samantha Davies.