Cleon Jones
Template:Mlbretired Cleon Joseph Jones (born August 4, 1942 in Plateau, Alabama) is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for the New York Mets from 1963 to 1975. He threw left handed and batted right handed. While with the Mets, he played with childhood friend Tommie Agee. He played for a few weeks with the Chicago White Sox in 1976. His best season was with the so-called "Miracle Mets" of 1969, when he batted .340 (third in the National League), and was selected as an All Star. Also instrumental in 1973 pennant race hitting .260 while the New York Mets won the Eastern Division title on the last day of the season with a paltry .508 winning percentage and went on to upset the mighty "Big Red Machine" en route to a seven game World Series loss to the Oakland A's.
Jones was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1991. His .340 average in 1969 remained a team record until John Olerud batted .354 in 1998. Jones remains among the team's all-time leaders in games played, at bats and hits.
Facts
- Notably, Jones was one of those rare players who were not primarily pitchers in major league history who threw left-handed but batted right-handed. Other such players include:
- Jeff Abbott
- Dick Adams
- Doug Ault
- Bobby Balcena
- Rube Bressler
- Mark Carreon
- Hal Chase
- Johnny Cooney
- Eddie Gaedel
- Rickey Henderson
- Brian R. Hunter
- Jason Lane
- Brian Lesher
- Dave McCarty
- Luis Medina
- Chucho Ramos
- Cody Ross
- Jimmy Ryan
- During the Mets' magical season of 1969, Jones and team's manager Gil Hodges had a few memorable moments together. First off, Hodges yanked Jones mid-game during the season for lack of hustle going after a fly ball (Hodges walked from the dugout all the way to the outfield to 'walk' Jones off the field). But most memorable was during Game 5 of the World Series, when Jones claimed he was hit on the foot by a pitched ball. Umpire Lou DiMuro disagreed, but after Hodges inspected the ball and found shoe polish on it, Jones was awarded first base. The Mets would go on to win the game and the World Series that day. Jones also caught the final out of the Series.
- The rap duo High And Mighty mention Jones in their song enitled B-Boy Document '99. The group has shown a tendency to rap about New York sports figures, and are said to be particularly fond of '69 Mets.
External link
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
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