Lynn Morris Jones (born January 1, 1953) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player, coach, and manager. He played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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), ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and

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 ...

. He later was a coach for the Royals,

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

, and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and served as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

Biography

Jones attended

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities in the region with about 100 full-time and part time faculty ...

, in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he played for the Tomcats, setting the school's single-season batting record, hitting .440 in 1974. A three-sport athlete, Jones also played basketball and soccer in college. In 1987, he was inducted into the college's athletic Hall of Fame. He joined the Theta Phi chapter of Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity while at Thiel.

Playing career

Jones was originally drafted by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in the 10th round of the 1974 June draft before being chosen by the

in the 1978 Rule 5 draft. Named Detroit's Rookie of the Year in 1979, Jones also played in 14 career post-season games with the

(1984–1985), going 2-for-3 with a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

and a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

in six games in the

1985 World Series The 1985 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1985 season. The 82nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals and the Na ...

against St. Louis. Over eight-major league seasons, Jones batted .252 with seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 91 RBI in 527

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

Post-playing career

Following his retirement as a player, Jones managed in the

for the

and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

organizations. In nine seasons as a minor-league manager, Jones compiled a 555–630 (.468) record and reached the postseason twice, in 1995 and 1997 with Kane County of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. Jones was

first base 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 ...

in the major leagues for the Royals in 1991 and 1992. He also coached (initially first base, then third base) for the Marlins in 2001, when he also instructed the club's outfielders and baserunners. During 2004 and 2005, Jones coached first base for the

. He missed part of the 2004 season after sustaining a non-baseball eye injury. The 2004 Red Sox won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, Jones' second championship team. After working as the minor-league baserunning coordinator for the Braves, Jones joined the coaching staff of his alma mater, Thiel College, in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lynn 1953 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Crawford County, Pennsylvania Boston Red Sox coaches Detroit Tigers players Eugene Emeralds players Evansville Triplets players Florida Marlins coaches Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Royals coaches Kansas City Royals players Lowell Spinners managers Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball third base coaches Portland Sea Dogs managers Seattle Rainiers players Thiel Tomcats baseball players Thiel Tomcats men's basketball players Trois-Rivières Aigles players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople