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

7/24 - Gerald Perry

 

Name: Gerald Perry

Team: Atlanta Braves

Position: First Base / Left Field / Pinch Hitter

Card Year: 1987

Card Maker: Donruss

Card Number: 437

While training camp has started and the NFL season is beginning to rear its head, it's still July and that means it's baseball season - something that as a Detroit Tigers fan - I am actively trying to process as healthy a way as possible at the moment.

So regardless of my current feelings about baseball - I pulled a baseball card for this week's blog - Gerald Perry of the 1987 Atlanta Braves.

1987 being one of the final years the Braves would still be utilizing the logo shown at the bottom right of the card.

I'm always somewhat astounded (and I realize I probably shouldn't be about the use of that logo), but what is the most surprising to me is that logo made it until the late 80s. I had just been assuming that was their logo from the 50s and 60s, but boy was I wrong. It wasn't until 1990 that the Braves fully switched over to just the name and tomahawk logo they currently utilize. That just feels so recent, which I also know it isn't, but then I think about how long Cleveland kept their logo and team name, and well, as stated above - I guess I just shouldn't be all that surprised.

In any event, Gerald Perry was a long time member of the Braves organization. He was drafted by the Braves in 1978 in the 11th round and bounced around their system from then until 1989. He was then traded to the Royals in 1990 and was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals, where he remained for the rest of his career until 1995. 

1987, the year this card was made, was a pretty good year for Gerald Perry, being one of his only seasons in the Braves starting lineup. He was 8th in the National League in stolen bases (42), and the only first baseman on that list though he split some time playing left field. He was also third in hits (144) and second in RBIs (74) on the 1987 Braves squad, which while deserving of the starting position - also indicated how rough a spot that team was in - finishing 69-82 - good for 5th out of 6th in the NL west division.

His 1988 season was his personal best, leading the Braves in both hits (164) and batting average (.300) making his first and only All Star game as a National League reserve 1st baseman. While statistically this was Perry's best season in baseball, the Braves as a team were even worse than in 1987, finishing with a 54-106 a record that was just shy of being the worst in baseball that year - an honor held by the Baltimore Orioles who also had 54 wins, but one more loss at 107. 

By 1990, Perry had been traded to the Royals where he would start one season at DH as George Brett had the first base position firmly locked down. The remainder of his career was spent in St. Louis, mostly as a pinch hitter. The last fun fact that I was able to dig up on him was that he holds the record for hits by a pinch hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals with 70. So while seeing only time as a reserve in St. Louis, he made the most of that time. 

A highlight from Perry's 1987 Season - Cubs vs. Braves 5/31/87

Gerald Perry and his Controversial Homer off of Pedro Martinez from another Blog

Sources:

Pro Baseball Reference