(Story & Photo by Marco Stoovelaar; Video by MLB FilmRoom)
IN MEMORIAM
...Doug Jones...
(1957 - 2021) |
 Former Major League ace-closer (303 saves) Doug Jones passed away
Nederlands
 TUCSON, Arizona (USA) -
Doug Jones, who pitched in sixteen Major League-seasons for seven different teams, has passed away on Monday (November 22) at age 64.
Jones, who played in five All Star Games, was a prime reliever and closer in the eighties and nineties and is one of only 31 pitchers who have been credited with 300 or more saves in their career.
It was reported that Jones passed away from complications from the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Douglas Reid Jones was born on June 24, 1957 in Covina, California.
The family later moved to Indiana, where he attended Butler University in Indianapolis and became a star-pitcher.
Thereafter, Jones went on to study at Central Arizona College, where he also played baseball.
In early 1978, the righthanded pitcher was drafted by Milwaukee Brewers and in May, he signed his first contract.
In the Milwaukee-organization, Doug Jones played in seven Minor League-seasons (1978-1984).
In these years, Jones was added to the Major League-team of Milwaukee Brewers early in the 1982 season.
Jones made his Major League-debut on April 9, 1982 in an away-game against Toronto Blue Jays.
He appeared in three more games in the next nine days, but then was send back to the Minors.
In his four appearances, Jones pitched 2 2/3 inning as reliever and struckout one batter.
After the 1984 season, Jones was released by Milwaukee.
In his years with Milwaukee, Jones pitched in Triple-A in five seasons.
In his four games during the 1982 season, Jones played with Cecil Cooper, Jim Gantner, Larry Hisle, Roy Howell, Paul Molitor, Don Money, Charlie Moore, Ben Oglivie, Ted Simmons, Gorman Thomas, Ned Yost and Robin Yount and pitchers Jamie Easterly, Moose Haas, Bob McClure and Pete Vuckovich.
As he had appeared in only four Major League-games in seven years, it appears that the big league-career of Jones might be over after he was released by Milwaukee.
However, Cleveland Indians needed extra pitching and in April 1985, he signed with this club, which officially changed its name to Cleveland Guardians after completion of the 2021 season.
With Cleveland, Jones played in six seasons.
He returned to the Major League in 1986, pitching in eleven games.
It was during this season, that he was a winning pitcher for the first time and he also earned his first save.
The next season (1987), Jones pitched in 49 games, 29 of them as closer and was credited with eight saves.
From 1988 on, he became Cleveland's prime closer, which was the beginning of a long and succesful career as reliever.
In the 1988 season, Jones was a closer in 46 of the 51 games he threw and set a single-season record for Cleveland with 37 saves.
In 83 1/3 inning, he struckout 72 batters.
Jones also was Cleveland's closer in the next three seasons.
In these three seasons (1989-1991), Jones was the closer in 146 of the 161 games he pitched in.
After earning 32 saves in 1989, Jones broke his own record with 43 saves in the 1990 season.
In 1991, Jones also was used as a starter in four games, which were the only games in his career in which he didn't pitch in relief.
Through early May 2006, Jones was the all-time record-holder of Cleveland with 129 saves.
While pitching for Cleveland, Doug Jones was chosen for three All Star Games (1988, 1989, 1990).
In 1989, when the game was played in Anaheim (California), Jones earned a save in the 5-3 win of the American League.
Amongst his teammates in his six seasons with Cleveland were Andy Allanson, Sandy Alomar, Chris Bando, Albert Belle, Tony Bernazard, Jerry Browne, Brett Butler, Joe Carter, Rick Dempsey, Julio Franco, Mel Hall, Keith Hernandez, Brook Jacoby, Dion James, Otis Nixon, Joel Skinner, Cory Snyder, Pat Tabler, Andre Thornton and Willie Upshaw.
Amongst his fellow-pitchers were Scott Bailes, Ernie Camacho, Tom Candiotti, Steve Carlton, Chris Codiroli, Jamie Easterly, Shawn Hillegas, Charles Nagy, Phil Niekro, Steve Olin, Jesse Orosco, Greg Swindell and Rich Yett.
From this group, Bailes, Hillegas, Olin and Orosco also were frequently inserted as closer.
During Spring Training 1993, Olin and new teammate Tim Crews died in a boating accident.
Crews, also a pitcher, had just signed with Cleveland two months earlier.
While playing with Cleveland in 1988, amongst his teammates were four players who went on to become a Major League-Manager, being Bud Black, John Farrell, Terry Francona and Ron Washington.
Black and Farrell (both pitchers) were teammates of Jones in three seasons.
Black was the Manager of San Diego Padres in 2007-2015 and is the Manager of Colorado Rockies since 2017.
Farrell was the Manager of Toronto Blue Jays in 2011-2012 and led Boston Red Sox in 2013-2017.
Francona and Washington only played one season together with Jones.
Francona was the Manager of Philadelphia Phillies (1997-2000) and Boston Red Sox (2004-2011) and is the Manager of Cleveland Indians since 2013.
Washington was the Manager of Texas Rangers in 2007-2014 and currently is the 3B Coach of Atlanta Braves.
...Carlos Baerga as coach...
...of Puerto Rico during the...
...2012 Haarlem Baseball...
...Week in the Netherlands...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Two other teammates of Jones while at Cleveland were Félix Fermín and Carlos Baerga, who also became a Manager.
Dominican Fermín played together with Jones in 1989-1991.
From 2000 through 2009, he was the Manager of Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican Winter League and led the team to five titles.
He then was the Manager of Gigantes del Cibao, but returned to Águilas in 2011.
Puerto Rican Baerga was a teammate of Jones in 1990 and 1991.
He is the Manager of Indios de Mayagüez in Puerto Rico since the 2013-2014 Winter-season.
He also was a coach of the National Team of Puerto Rico that won Silver in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
In 2012, Baerga also was one of the coaches of the Puerto Rican Team that participated in the Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands.
During the 1991 season, Turner Ward was a teammate of Doug Jones at Cleveland.
Ward was the Hitting Coach of Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013-2015 and held the same position with Los Angeles Dodgers (2016-2018) and Cincinnati Reds (2019).
During his stay with Los Angeles, Ward became known as the favorite coach of powerhitter Yasiel Puig.
Being a Free Agent after 1991, Jones signed with Houston Astros in January 1992.
He pitched in two seasons for the team and was a workhorse from the bullpen.
In 1992, Jones pitched in 80 games and led the National League by throwing in 70 as a closer.
He was 11-8 with 36 saves and an 1.85 ERA, while striking out 93 batters in 111 2/3 inning.
For the fourth time, Jones was chosen to play in an All Star Game.
In 1993, Doug Jones was the closer in 60 games and earned 26 saves.
Amongst his teammates in his two seasons at Houston were Eric Anthony, Jeff Bagwell, Kevin Bass, Craig Biggio, Ken Caminiti, Casey Candaele, Adujar Cedeño, Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Pete Incaviglia, Rafael Ramirez, Scott Servais (who is the Manager of Seattle Mariners since 2016) and Ed Taubensee.
The pitching-staff included Joe Boever, Doug Drabek, Pete Harnisch, Xavier Hernandez, Darryl Kile, Al Osuna and Greg Swindell.
After his second season, Houston traded Jones to Philadelphia Phillies for Mitch Williams, who also was a reliever and was nicknamed 'Wild Thing'.
Jones pitched one season (1994) for Philadelphia and closed 42 games, earning 27 saves and giving up only 13 earned runs in 54 innings.
In this season, he pitched in his fifth (and last) All Star Game.
At Philadelphia, Jones played together with Darren Daulton, Mariano Duncan, Lenny Dykstra, Jim Eisenreich, Pete Incaviglia, John Kruk and Mickey Morandini and pitchers Larry Andersen, Danny Jackson, Curt Schilling and Heathcliff Slocumb.
Another teammate was wellknown Mexican lefthander Fernando Valenzuela, who came to Philadelphia halfway the season in a trade.
After the 1994 season, Jones was a Free Agent again and in April 1995, he signed an one-year contract with Baltimore Orioles.
There, he also was the prime closer, finishing 47 of the 52 games he threw in and earning 22 saves.
At Baltimore, amongst his teammates in 1995 were Manny Alexander, Brady Anderson, Harold Baines, Bret Barberie, Kevin Bass, Bobby Bonilla, Chris Hoiles, Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as pitchers Armando Benitez, Terry Clark, Scott Erickson, Jamie Moyer, Mike Mussina and Jesse Orosco.
Although Jones was the prime closer, Benitez, Clark and Orosco also were used as closers.
In December 1995, he signed with Chicago Cubs.
There, he started the 1996 season, appeared in 28 games (two saves) and then was released in June.
Teammates at Chicago included Leo Gomez, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, José Hernandez, Brian McRae, Ryne Sandberg, Scott Servais and Sammy Sosa.
Pitchers included Terry Adams, Kent Bottenfield, Frank Castillo, Jaime Navarro, Bob Patterson and Steve Trachsel.
Two weeks after being released by Chicago, Jones returned to Milwaukee Brewers, where he had started his Major League-career.
In his first stint, he pitched in only four games for Milwaukee, this time, he played in parts of three seasons for the club.
In the remainder of the 1996 season, Jones was used in different relief-roles, as he closed only eight of the 24 games he threw.
But the next season (1997), Jones was Milwaukee's main closer.
He threw in 75 games and was the closer in 73 of them, which was the highest total in his career.
Jones earned 36 saves, his highest total since 1992.
He struckout 82 batters in 80 1/3 inning.
In 1998, Jones saved twelve more games for Milwaukee, which then played in its first National League-season after having switched leagues after the 1997 season.
Towards the end of July 1998, Jones was traded to Cleveland Indians for pitcher Eric Plunk.
In this longer period with Milwaukee, Jones played together with Jeromy Burnitz, Jeff Cirillo, Julio Franco, Marquis Grissom, John Jaha, José Valentin, Greg Vaughn, Fernando Vina and Gerald Williams.
In the pitching-staff were Cal Eldred, Scott Karl, Ben McDonald, Mike Myers, Alberto Reyes and fellow-closers Mike Fetters and Bob Wickman.
Another teammate in these years was Mike Matheny, who also went on to become a Manager.
He led St. Louis Cardinals in 2012-2018 and now is the Manager of Kansas City Royals since 2020.
Amongst his teammates were also two Australians, catcher Dave Nilsson and pitcher Graeme Lloyd.
Nilsson also became a Manager, as he led Queensland Rams in Australia (2003) and then led Brisbane Bandits in four winter-seasons in 2014-2018, winning the title in the Australian Baseball League three times.
Since 2018, Nilsson is the Manager of the National Team of Australia.
Doug Jones finished the 1998 season with Cleveland.
Earlier, he pitched in six seasons for Cleveland, which was his longest stay with one club.
This time, he only pitched in the remainder of the 1998 season for Cleveland, appearing in 23 games.
With Cleveland, he went on to play in the American League Division Series.
In the second half of the 1998 season, amongst Jones' teammates were Sandy Alomar, Travis Fryman, Brian Giles, David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel and pitchers Paul Assenmacher, Bartolo Colón, Dwight Gooden, closer Michael Jackson, José Mesa, Charles Nagy and Eric Plunk.
Another teammate was second baseman David Bell, who since 2019 is the Manager of Cincinnati Reds.
...Doug Jones closes Game 4 of the 2000 ALDS for...
...Oakland A's against New York Yankees...
(Video: MLB FilmRoom) |
After the 1998 season, Jones was without a contract.
As a Free Agent, and despite being 41 years old now, he signed with Oakland Athletics, as he was still a very effective reliever.
In 1999, Jones appeared in 70 games, 35 of them as a closer.
He won five games, earned 10 more saves and struckout 63 batters.
He returned on the mound for Oakland in 2000 and in that season, he was the oldest Major League-player at age 43 and pitched in 54 games.
In 2000, Jones pitched for the second time in a postseason, as Oakland won the title in the American Leagye West.
The team was then eliminated in the ALDS by New York Yankees.
After completion of the 2000 season, Doug Jones retired.
At Oakland, Doug Jones was re-united with Manager Art Howe, who also was his Manager when he played for Houston.
Amongst his teammates in Oakland were Eric Chavez, Ryan Christenson, Jason Giambi, Ben Grieve, Ramon Hernandez, John Jaha, Tony Phillips, Tim Raines, Olmedo Saenz, Scott Spiezio, Matt Stairs, Miguel Tejada and Randy Velarde.
Amongst the pitchers were Tom Candiotti, Gil Heredia, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Tim Worrell and fellow-closers Jason Isringhausen and Billy Taylor.
In his two seasons in Oakland, Jones also played with A.J. Hinch, another former teammate who went on to become a Manager.
Hinch led Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009-2010 and Houston Astros in 2015-2019.
This year, he made his debut as Manager of Detroit Tigers.
In his 16-year Major League-career, Doug Jones pitched in 846 games, all of them as a reliever, except for the four starts during the 1991 season.
In 640 games, Jones was the closer and he earned 303 saves, while finishing his career with a 69-79 record and a 3.30 ERA.
In 1,128 1/3 inning, Jones struckout 909 batters.
Jones, who also was known for his characteristic moustache and sometimes throwing slow pitches, was in twelfth place on the all-time saves-list when he retired.
After completion of the 2021 season, Jones is in 29th place of the list which is headed by Mariano Rivera, who is the recordholder with 652 saves.
He is one of only two closers with 600 or more saves.
The other is Trevor Hoffman, who has 601.
Lee Smith is in third place with 478.
Curaçao-born Kenley Jansen is in 13th place with 350 saves.
Since 2010, Jansen has been the closer for Los Angeles Dodgers.
After his playing career, Jones continued in coaching.
Since 2000, he first was an Assistant Coach of the baseball-team of Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in Tucson, Arizona.
In 2006, Jones became a Minor League Pitching Instructor for Arizona Diamondbacks.
He was active in this position in three years and also was a Special Assistant of A.J. Hinch, who then was the Minor League Director of Arizona.
In 2009, Jones returned to Pusch Ridge Christian Academy.
There, he was the Head Coach and led the baseball-team to a State-title.
Hereafter, in 2010 through 2012, Jones was the Pitching Coach of the San Diego Christian College baseball-team.
In 2015, Jones was the Pitching Coach of Boise Hawks, the Single-A team of Colorado Rockies.
In their home-town Tucson, Jones and his wife Debbie were very involved in church-activities and they created an independent Christian recording label.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News extends his condolences to the family of Doug Jones and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(November 25)
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