James Dalton Jones (December 10, 1943 - ) was a Major League Baseball player who played 9 seasons in the big leagues for the Boston Red Sox (1964-1969), Detroit Tigers (1970-1972), and Texas Rangers (1972). The Boston Red Sox are a Professional baseball team based in Boston Massachusetts, and are the reigning (2007 World Series Champions. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees (4-3 Bob Gibson, MVP Champions Major League Baseball The most notable part of the 1969 season were the Miracle Mets World Series: New York Mets The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA Champions Major Leagues World Series MVP Brooks Robinson All-Star Game, July 14 at Riverfront Stadium Labor strife and more moving 1972 was tainted by a players' strike over pension and salary arbitration The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington Texas, United States, representing the Dallas-Ft
Born in McComb, Mississippi, Jones was principally a utility infielder and pinch-hitter. McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States, about 80 miles south of Jackson, just off of I-55. He played 262 games at second base, 186 at third base, 158 at 1st base, 18 in the outfield, and 1 at shortstop. In 907 Major League games, he compiled a . 235 batting average with 548 hits, 268 runs scored, 237 RBIs, 91 doubles, 19 triples, 41 home runs, and 20 stolen bases.
Jones was a highly recruited prospect while playing in high school. To gain the edge in recruiting, the Red Sox involved Jones' boyhood hero, Ted Williams, in the effort, and Jones ended up signing with Boston. Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams ( August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) also nicknamed The Kid, the Splendid Splinter
Jones played for Boston from 1964-1969. He had his best season in 1967, the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season. Dalton led the American League with 13 pinch hits and had a career-high . 289 batting average. He also had several key hits for the Red Sox during the pennant drive. On September 18, 1967, he hit an 11th inning home run in Detroit to beat the Tigers. In the last two games of the season, Jones went 3-for-5 and scored the game winning run in the final regular season game.
Jones also gave a tremendous performance in the 1967 World Series. The 1967 World Series matched the St Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox, with the Cardinals winning in seven games for their second championship in four He was Boston's starting third basebman in Games 1-4 and served as a pinch hitter in two other games. He was 7-for-18 with a . 389 batting average and . 421 on base percentage in the World Series -- second only to Carl Yastrzemski (who hit . Carl Michael Yastrzemski (jəˈstrɛmski (born August 22, 1939) nicknamed "Yaz" then moved him to the Minneapolis Millers for the post-season 400 for the Series) among the Red Sox.
Jones was traded to the Detroit Tigers before the 1970 season. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA He played two seasons with the Tigers. On July 9, 1970, Jones hit a towering fly ball into the right field upper deck in Detroit with the bases loaded. What should have been a grand slam ended up being a three-RBI single, as Jones passed teammate Don Wert between first and second base. The Grand Slam Single is a reference to the hit that ended Game Five of the 1999 National League Championship Series between the Donald Ralph Wert (born July 29 1938 in Strasburg Pennsylvania) nicknamed " Coyote " is a former Third baseman in Jones was called out but the three baserunners scored.
Interviewed in July 2006, Jones blamed Don Wert for the embarrassing incident that Jones is now best remembered for. Donald Ralph Wert (born July 29 1938 in Strasburg Pennsylvania) nicknamed " Coyote " is a former Third baseman in The ball was a towering fly ball, which may or may not have had the distance to make it into the right field overhang at old Tiger Stadium. Jones felt that Wert should have been halfway to second base, prepared to advance if it was a home run, and prepared to return to first if it was caught. Instead, Jones recalled that Wert was returning to first to tag up. Jones says he was already at first when the ball landed in the upper deck, and he passed Wert just 1 or 2 steps past first base. [1]
Jones' Major League career ended in 1972 with the Texas Rangers managed by his boyhood hero, Ted Williams, who had helped scout and sign Jones for the Red Sox when Jones was a high school senior. The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington Texas, United States, representing the Dallas-Ft Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams ( August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) also nicknamed The Kid, the Splendid Splinter
In 1973, Jones played with the Peninsula Whips, the Triple-A team in the Montreal Expos organization. The Winnipeg Whips and the Peninsula Whips are names of a Minor league baseball franchise that played in the International League from June 11 Franchise history Creation of the franchise In 1960 Montreal lost its International League team the Montreal Royals (an affiliate of After that effort, Jones realized he wouldn't be making a comeback and retired from baseball.
After his playing career ended, Jones worked for a time at a bank and spent five years working for Exxon.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- BaseballLibrary.com
- Audio of July 2006 Interview of Dalton Jones
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