Randall Leo Jones (born January 12, 1950), nicknamed "Junkman", 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 ...

left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched 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), ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Jones won the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

in 1976. Jones attended Brea-Olinda High School in

Brea, California Brea (; Spanish for "tar") is a city in northern Orange County, California. The population as of the 2010 census was 39,282. It is southeast of Los Angeles. Brea is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city began as a center of cru ...

, and

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

. He was known for his sinker and the large number of ground-ball outs he induced.

Professional baseball career

Jones was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

1972 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The Montreal Expos had perhaps their best draft in franc ...

. He made his major league debut on June 16,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, Jones went 8–22 with a 4.45 ERA. He was able to turn it around in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

when he won 20 games and led the National League with a 2.24 ERA, earning ''The Sporting News'' Comeback Player of the Year Award. His best season was in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, when he went 22–14 with a 2.74 ERA, started the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

, won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, and was named ''The Sporting News'' NL Pitcher of the Year. He was selected as the left-handed pitcher on The Sporting News NL All-Star Teams after the 1975 and 1976 seasons. At the All-Star break in July , Jones' record was 16–3, a win total that no one has equaled since. Randy Jones - San Diego Padres - 1978

Jones established the Major League season record for most chances accepted by a pitcher without an error (112 in 1976), tied ML pitchers records for highest season fielding percentage (1.000, 1976) and most assists in an inning (3, 9/28/75 – 3rd inning), and tied the NL pitchers season record for the most double plays with 12 in 1976. Jones owns the distinction of recording a save for the NL in the 1975 All-Star Game and being the starting and winning pitcher the next year. During his last start of the 1976 season, he injured a nerve in his pitching arm that required exploratory surgery, and he was never quite able to regain his Cy Young form. Jones pitched effectively for San Diego through the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

season. On December 15, 1980, he was traded to the

for José Moreno and

John Pacella John Lewis Pacella (born September 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He became known for his unusual delivery that sometimes caused him to lose his cap after a pitch. Background Born in Brooklyn, New York, Pacella mov ...

. After two years, Jones was released by the Mets, and signed with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. He was released by the Pirates before the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

season started, thus ending his playing career. His career win–loss record was just ; he remains the only starting pitcher to win a Cy Young Award but retire with a losing record. He was named an All-Star in 1975 and 1976. After his retirement, Jones' uniform No. 35 was retired by the Padres on May 9, 1997.

Post-playing career: coaching and catering

After retiring from Major League Baseball, Jones has coached young pitchers. His most prominent pupil was Barry Zito, a former Major League pitcher and the 2002

winner while with the

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 ...

. He also is the owner of Randy Jones All American Grill, Randy Jones Big Stone Lodge,(now permanently closed) the home of his

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

business Randy Jones Buckboard Catering. The Big Stone Lodge sells a

barbecue sauce Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated as BBQ sauce) is a sauce used as a marinade, basting (cooking), basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork or beef ribs (food), ribs and chicken as food, chicken. I ...

that bears Jones' name. Jones also owned the Randy Jones carwash in Poway in the late 70s and early 1980s. Randy is involved in the

local radio broadcast pregame and postgame show. In 1996, Jones was inducted by the

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...

into th
Breitbard Hall of Fame
honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surfac

He was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the

San Diego Padres Hall of Fame The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB) based in San Diego, California. The club was founded in 1969 as part of the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion, league's expansion. The team's hall of ...

in 1999. Jones can be heard live, every Tuesday at 1:00-2:00 (PST) on

wsRadio wsRadio (The ws of wsRadio stands for World Syndication Radio.) is an Internet talk radio network which started broadcasting on August 15, 2001 with 5 shows and has grown to over 120 shows. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, "the Sun neve ...

.com. "Randy Jones on Baseball" covers everything baseball from his Hall of Fame/Legendary guests, to the latest news and an inside look at the Major League Season.

References

External links

Randy Jones
Chornology & Facts at This Day In Baseball {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Randy 1950 births Living people Cy Young Award winners Chapman Panthers baseball players National League All-Stars National League ERA champions National League wins champions New York Mets players San Diego Padres players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from California Sportspeople from Fullerton, California Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Major League Baseball broadcasters San Diego Padres announcers Alexandria Aces players Tri-City Padres players Anchorage Glacier Pilots players

Professional baseball career

Post-playing career: coaching and catering

See also

References

External links