Henry Jones (joneshe01)

Henry Monroe Jones

• Bats Both, Throws Unknown
• Height 5' 6", Weight 149 lb.

• Debut August 20, 1884
• Final Game October 14, 1884
• Born May 10, 1857 in New York USA
• Died May 31, 1955 in Manistee, MI USA

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Biographical Information

". . . he has a brilliant future." - the Detroit Free Press in 1885

Henry Jones was a reluctant major leaguer. He played for a number of amateur, semi-pro and minor league teams (and also managed) until he was sold to the Detroit Wolverines in 1884. He hit .220 with a .308 on-base percentage on a team that hit .208 with a .247 on-base percentage. He was one of the early players who would try to draw a walk if the pitcher couldn't get the ball over the plate, and taught himself to bat as a switch-hitter because he believed in the advantage of a batter who hit from the opposite side of the plate from the side that the pitcher threw.

Jones was seen as a good and promising player after 1884, but his wife wanted Jones to pursue a more reliable career, and Jones became an engineer. Sadly enough, Jones was seriously injured while working on the railroad in 1890.

Jones had a number of careers after baseball, mainly because he lived forever. While the sources are not completely in agreement as to when he was born, it was sometime in the late 1850s, and he died in 1955. He lived to nearly 100 years of age.

Related Sites

• Henry Jones at the SABR Bio Project