Former Major League Baseball player and Malibuite Royce Clayton is now the head baseball coach at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village.
Clayton, a big league shortstop for 17 years, was named to the top spot of the Lions baseball program at the end of last month.
The 46-year-old father of four said he decided to apply for the coaching gig because Oaks Christian has a belief system that he and his wife Samantha agree with.
“The type of kids Oaks is putting out is very mannerly, respectful kids,” Clayton said of the grade six to 12 private school. “We want to raise the best kids possible and we feel that Oaks is one of those schools in our area that will help us do that.”
The 1997 MLB All-Star said on the diamond he wants to teach Lions players from junior high to high school seniors philosophy and methodologies that elevate skillsets and produce the best players possible.
“Baseball is baseball,” Clayton said. “The game hasn’t changed since I was a kid playing at nine, 10 years old. The fundamentals I learned at that age carried me all the way to playing my last day in the big leagues. Teaching those fundamentals the right way and knowing what it takes to play at the top level is what I am going to give these kids.”
Clayton is inheriting a Lions squad that went 19-10 last season and was co-Marmonte League champions. The team, coached by Tim Penprase last season, returns a talented group of seniors.
Clayton played for 11 teams during his nearly 20-year tenure as a professional baseball player. The Burbank native was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1988 MLB Draft out of St. Bernard High School in Playa del Ray. Clayton was a one-time All-Star during his two-year stint with the St. Louis Cardinals. He ended his career as a member of the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox.
Additionally, Clayton was involved in the Jackie Robinson Foundation during his MLB years.
In the years since, he has been a regular at Malibu Bluffs Park during the Malibu Little League season. All of his kids — 12-year-old Royce Jr. and 10-year-old triplets Imani, Elijah and Niya — compete in the youth baseball league.
Clayton has been an assistant coach with the MLL’s Braves for a few years. Royce Jr., seventh grader at Oaks Christian, was a standout on the squad last spring.
The senior Royce is a standout business and community leader away from baseball. He is a founding member of the Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he served on the advisory board. Clayton founded the Royce Clayton Foundation in 1997. The organization is committed to improving the lives of youth and giving back to the community.
In a statement, Oaks Christian Athletic Director Jan Hethcock said the school is privileged to have someone of Clayton’s caliber and character to lead and mentor young men at the school on and off the diamond.
“We look forward to a great season with him at the helm,” she said.
Clayton said the Lions will start practicing soon and will have some scrimmages during the fall before their season begins in the spring.
The former MLB player said when dealing with his new baseball team he would reflect on the pro managers who coached the teams he played on during his career.
“All we can do as a staff, a manager, is get the guys as prepared as possible, and then just go out and enjoy it,” Clayton said. “That is what I want the kids to do. The wins and losses will take care of themselves.”
Clayton said in the dugout he will be emotionally measured, but will know how to get his point across when needed. The new coach said he wants players to develop under his teaching.
“Baseball is a life lesson,” he said. “Faith-based schools, values, morality — things like that come through with the way I want to teach the game. I think it will be something to help these guys outside the field. That they will be able to use the rest of their lives.”