Douglas Reid Jones (June 24, 1957 – November 22, 2021) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. During a 16-year career in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, Jones played for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1982, 1996–1998),

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1986–1991, 1998),

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

(1992–1993),

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1994),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

(1995),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(1996) and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(1999–2000). Jones was a five-time

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

and a member of the 300 save club.

Early life

Douglas Reid Jones was born on June 24, 1957, in the town of

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, " ...

. He moved to

Lebanon, Indiana Lebanon (/ˈlɛbnən/) is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,792 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is located in central Indiana, approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis and southe ...

, with his family as a young child. He attended

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Co ...

, and the

selected him in the third round of the January phase of the

1978 MLB draft In 1978, four American baseball players were promoted from amateur baseball to the Major League Baseball, major leagues, including Arizona State Sun Devils baseball, Arizona State University third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one o ...

Playing career

Jones spent seven years in the Brewers' minor league system. His only major league experience with the Brewers took place in four games in 1982. He was released after the 1984 season, and he signed with the Cleveland Indians. He became the Indians' full-time closer by 1988, breaking the Indians' record for saves in a season with 37. He held the Indians' all-time record for saves with 129 until

Bob Wickman Robert Joe Wickman (born February 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Wickman played for the New York Yankees (–), Milwaukee Brewers (1996–), Cleveland Indians (2000–), Atlanta Braves (2006–), and Arizona Diamondback ...

broke it on May 7, 2006. Before the 1992 season, Jones signed a minor league contract with the

. After the 1993 season, the Astros traded Jones and

Jeff Juden Jeffrey Daniel Juden (born January 19, 1971) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians, Milwauke ...

to the

for

Mitch Williams Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He was also a studio analyst for the MLB Network from 2009 to ...

. A

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the 1994 season, he signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the

. Jones threw an

immaculate inning In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strike zone, strikes to a Batting (baseball), batter during his time at bat. An immaculate inning occurs when a pitcher strikes out all three batters he faces in one inning, using the mi ...

during a save on September 23, 1997, by striking out

Johnny Damon Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2012. During his MLB career, Damon played for the Kansas City Royals (1995–2000), Oakland ...

, Scott Cooper, and

Rod Myers Roderick Demond Myers (born January 14, 1973) is a former professional outfielder. He played in parts of two seasons in the Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major profe ...

of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. Jones announced his retirement on December 7, 2000. His 303 career saves ranked 12th in major league history upon his retirement, and his 846 career appearances ranked 21st. A

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

specialist, he was known for keeping hitters off balance by throwing extremely slow pitches. He threw a two-seam

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

that topped out at speeds in the low-to-mid 80s mph range and a

knuckle curve In Major League history, the term knuckle curve or knuckle curveball has been used to describe three entirely different pitches. All are unrelated to the similar sounding knuckleball. The first, more modern and commonly used pitch called the kn ...

on occasion. Jones was elected to the American League All-Star team three times (1988, 1989, and 1990) and to the National League All-Star team twice (1992 and 1994). He was the oldest player in the American League in 2000 at the age of 43.

Coaching career

In 2009, Jones coached

Pusch Ridge Christian Academy Pusch Ridge Christian Academy is a private Christian school located in northwest Tucson, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th ...

to the Arizona 2A High School Championship. In the early 2010s, he was the pitching coach for

San Diego Christian College San Diego Christian College (SDCC) is a private, evangelical college in Santee, California, a suburb of San Diego. Founded in 1970, SDCC offers traditional, non-traditional, and graduate programs. History In January 1970, Tim F. LaHaye, pastor ...

. On January 22, 2015, he was named

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surround ...

, a minor league affiliate of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Death

Jones died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

-related complications in Arizona on November 22, 2021, at the age of 64.

References

External links