8/7 - Doug Jones

Name: Doug Jones

Team: Houston Astros

Position: Relief Pitcher 

Card Year: 1993

Card Maker: Topps

Card Number: 171

The thing I've enjoyed most about starting this blog, even in the few posts I've written, is getting
to learn about and piece together the stories of the athletes whose cards I've drawn. So far, I've encountered several common sports narratives (the draft busts, the career-ending injuries, the steady success of a hall-of-fame career) but in this week's card - 1992 Houston Astro, Doug Jones, a new type of story emerges - that of the late bloomer who played to his limited strengths and was able to have a long and successful professional career. 

Jones was drafted by the Brewers in 1978 at the age of 20 as a starting pitcher and bounced around their farm system before being very briefly called up in 1982. He returned to the minor leagues until 1986 where Cleveland picked him up late in the season as a reliever and he was able to notch his first major league save, maintaining a 2.50 ERA over 11 games. He threw two pitches - a sub-90 MPH fastball and a change-up and had to rely on batters making contact to get most of his outs. He is quoted as saying "My game is to get batters to hit the ball to someone. If I walk people or give up home runs, I’d be gone in a minute because I don’t have anything else going for me.”

Jones was able to make the opening day lineup for Cleveland in 1987 and despite some hiccups early in the season, maintained his spot on the roster and ended up an All-Star for the first time in 1988, at the age of 31, and the first of three straight All-Star nods with Cleveland. The last of those All-star seasons was in 1990 where Jones tallied 43 saves - good for third overall in the MLB. Despite this, he never made the postseason with the Indians and in 1991 he was giving too many hitters too many good looks, causing Cleveland to not renew his contract, and making him a free agent going into 1992. He was then signed by the Houston Astros.

Jones ended the 1992 season with 36 total saves, a Houston team record at the time of this card's printing. He earned his 4th All Star nod and is still in the Astros record books with the 7th highest overall number of single season saves. He spent one more season with Houston until being traded to Philadelphia for "Wild Thing" pitcher Mitch Williams. Given his steady personality and low velocity, he earned the moniker "Mild Thing" while reaching the All Star game for the Phillies for his 5th and final time. 

After Philadelphia, Jones moved pretty consistently for the rest of his career from Philadelphia to Baltimore, the Cubs, back to Milwaukee in 1996 where he put together in 1997 playing in 76 games and earning 36 saves, then on to Cleveland in 1998 where he was part of a playoff squad for the first time in his career at 41 years old. That Cleveland team made it to the 1998 ALCS but lost to the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees. He finished his career in 2000 after two seasons with the Oakland A's - keeping his ERA below 4.00 at the ages of 42 and 43.

Jones finished his career with 303 saves and all but one of them after the age of 30. He sadly died in 2021 due to complications from COVID. He had a career that seemed perpetually on edge, but he was grounded enough to keep doing what was needed to keep it going for as long as possible.   

Sources

RIP Baseball

Pro Baseball Reference

Society for American Baseball Reference

MLB Obituary