Nicholas Ittner "Red" Jones (April 16, 1905 – March 19, 1987) was an American baseball umpire in the American League between 1944 and 1949. Jones worked in 889 major league games during that stretch.

Umpiring career

From 1936 to 1943, Jones was a minor league umpire with the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmon ...

and

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

. In 1942, Jones had an opportunity to get a pay raise by moving the American Association, but he turned it down, saying that he liked it when fans heckled him with a southern accent. He made his major league debut as third base umpire in a twelve-inning game between Philadelphia and Washington on April 18, 1944. In a 1946 game at Fenway Park, Jones was behind the plate when he received heckling from the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

bench. Jones was called a "meathead" and someone made "whoopee-cushion noises". Unable to pinpoint the culprits, Jones ejected fourteen from the Chicago bench. For many years, legend had it that the razzing came from a ventriloquist in the stands, but at least one player has identified Chicago coach

Mule Haas George William "Mule" Haas (October 15, 1903 – June 30, 1974) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball from 1925 through 1938, most notably as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics dy ...

as the source. Jones umpired his last MLB game in 1949. Umpire

Bill McKinley William Francis McKinley (May 13, 1910 - August 1, 1980) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1946 to 1965. McKinley umpired 2,977 major league games in his 20-year career. He umpired in four World Series and ...

described him as a good umpire but one who was easily distracted by comments from players and fans. "He heard everything," McKinley said. "It took his concentration off the game. It bothered him so much that they finally had to fire him after six years."

Later life

In 1950, Jones left umpiring and took a post in sales with the Pfeiffer Brewing Company in Detroit. He later worked in public relations for the Associated Brewing Company and briefly as a television commentator for the

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 ...

. Jones also co-hosted a sports interview show with Al Ackerman of WWJ-TV (NBC affiliate) in Detroit.

Death

Jones died on March 19, 1987, in Miami, Florida.

References

1905 births 1987 deaths Cleveland Indians announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from North Carolina {{US-baseball-umpire-stub