Jacque Jones

Jacque Dewayne Jones (born April 25, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins. He also coached for the Washington Nationals.

Early life

He graduated from San Diego High School in 1993, and the University of Southern California, where he had a stellar career. In , he was a first team all-American outfielder for the Trojans. In , he was a member of the US Olympic Baseball team. In 1993, he was named player of the year in the SCL with, .332 batting average, 33 home runs, and 124 RBI.

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

Jacque was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the amateur draft. He played three seasons in the minor leagues, and was brought up to the majors in . He started off in center field, but moved to left to accommodate Torii Hunter. Between -, he batted over .300, and went to the playoffs with the Twins. The Twins outfield was one of the fastest in baseball in , boasting Jones, Hunter and Shannon Stewart. With the acquisition of Stewart, Jones was moved to right field. Jacque was able to hit for power and averaged 20 home runs between -2005.

Jones officially ended his relationship with the Twins by turning down arbitration on December 19, 2005. After considering a deal to play for St. Louis, he signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs just a day later.

Chicago Cubs

On August 15, 2006, Jone
hit a home run over the center field wall
against Roger Clemens at Minute Maid Park, well over 440 feet. He finished the season strong with a .285 batting average, and tied his career best with 27 home runs.

After the 2006 season, it appeared Jones' future with Chicago was uncertain. It was rumored that he had requested a trade and a deal was in the works, but on February 17, 2007, he asked to not be traded, and that he was hoping to have a comeback year. Jones remained with the Cubs to start the season, though he was never really accepted by the fan base, partly due to his lack of production and partly due to questionable comments regarding the teams decision to fire Dusty Baker, whom Jones said he came to Chicago to play for. Baker was replaced by Lou Piniella in December 2006. Early in the 2007 season he became disgruntled with his playing time and the Cubs again sought to trade him. Trades with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers fell through in June 2007 because of new owner Sam Zell's unwillingness to transfer money to another team to cover Jones' remaining salaries.

Detroit Tigers

On November 12, 2007, Jones was traded to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Omar Infante. After getting off to a poor start, batting just .165 in his first 24 games, he was designated for assignment by the Tigers on May 5, . As a Tiger, Jacque Jones's best game was against the Texas Rangers where he had his only home run in a Detroit uniform as well as a triple, which came in back to back at bats. However, on May 13, he was released by the Tigers.

Florida Marlins

On May 19, 2008, Jones signed a minor league deal with the Florida Marlins. Jones first reported to extended spring training in Jupiter, Florida. On May 23, he was added to the major league roster and made his Marlin debut in center field on May 25. He was designated for assignment on June 11 and became a free agent on June 20 after rejecting his assignment to the minors.

Cincinnati Reds

On February 5, , Jones signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Cincinnati Reds. He did not make the team, and was reassigned to the minor league camp on March 30. He was cut after a poor spring training. He chose to leave the Reds, rather than accept a minor league contract.

Return to Minnesota

Jones signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins on February 9, 2010. He was assigned to the minor league after that. He received very loud standing ovations during his at-bats during two exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals at Target Field.

After retirement from playing

Jones was on the ballot for Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 but received only one vote, less than the minimum 5% needed to appear in subsequent years.

Jones was hired as the hitting coach for the Class A Fort Wayne TinCaps by the San Diego Padres for the 2012 season. In 2013, he was promoted to be the hitting coach for the Double-A San Antonio Missions. In 2014, he was named the hitting coach for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas but resigned from the job midway through the season. In 2016, he was hired by the Washington Nationals as the team's assistant hitting coach. During their 2017 postseason, just before playing Game 1 of the 2017 National League Division Series on October 6, 2017, the Nationals announced Jones′s indefinite suspension with pay pending a team investigation of a revenge porn incident.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jacque
1975 births
Living people
African-American baseball coaches
African-American baseball players
Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Baseball players from San Diego
Chicago Cubs players
Detroit Tigers players
Florida Marlins players
Fort Myers Miracle players
Kennesaw State Owls baseball players
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Major League Baseball outfielders
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Minnesota Twins players
New Britain Rock Cats players
Newark Bears players
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in baseball
Rochester Red Wings players
Salt Lake Buzz players
USC Trojans baseball players
Washington Nationals coaches
21st-century African-American sportspeople
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Yaquis de Obregón players
20th-century African-American sportspeople
Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players
San Diego High School alumni