Jon Cannon

Jonathan Richard Cannon

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 215 lb.
• School Canada College
• High School Gunn High School

• Born January 1, 1975 in Sun Valley, ID USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Infomation

Jon Cannon pitched three seasons in AAA but never made the major leagues.

Cannon was taken by the Houston Astros in the 24th round of the 1993 amateur draft but did not sign. The Chicago Cubs chose him in the 7th round of the 1996 amateur draft. He was 6-4 with a 3.02 ERA that year for the Williamsport Cubs, allowing only 61 hits in 83 1/3 innings. In '97, the left-hander went 9-6 with a 3.13 ERA for the Rockford Cubbies, averaging over a K per inning and 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA for the Daytona Cubs. He finished 7th in the Midwest League in ERA.

In 1998, the 23-year-old was 0-3 with a 3.73 ERA for Daytona, limited to seven games, presumably by injury. The next season, he had a 3-5, 4.42 record for Daytona, issuing 66 walks in 95 2/3 innings. The southpaw split 2000 between Daytona (save, 16 1/3 shutout innings, just seven hits) and the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (1-2, Sv, 3.06, .188 opponent average, 31 BB in 53 IP).

Jon moved to the San Francisco Giants system in 2001, toiling for the San Jose Giants (2-0, 2 Sv, 3.24) and Shreveport Swamp Dragons (2-0, Sv, 3.19). In 2002, he was 1-5 with four saves and a 4.26 ERA for Shreveport (walking 40 in 63 1/3 IP) and 1-0 with 3 2/3 shutout innings for the Fresno Grizzlies.

Cannon next moved into the independent leagues. He was 7-6 with a save and a 1.86 ERA for the 2003 Long Island Ducks, allowing only 69 hits in 116 1/3 innings. He led the Atlantic League in ERA by .26 over Bryan Rekar and was named the league's All-Star left-handed pitcher.

Jon joined Team USA for the 2003 Baseball World Cup. He went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and allowed only 9 hits in 18 innings. He tied for 4th in the event in wins, even with Jonder Martinez, Mario Pena and Rob Cordemans among others and trailing Len Picota, Norge Vera and Rafael Medina. He was named the All-Star left-hander, joining Kleber Tomita as the All-Star pitchers. He was the lone American picked to the All-Star squad.

Cannon's fine 2003 earned him a return trip to Organized Baseball as the Arizona Diamondbacks signed him. He went 9-8 with a save and a 4.29 ERA for the 2004 Tucson Sidewinders. He tied Mike Gosling for the most victories on that AAA team. In '05, the left-hander was 3-5 with a 4.17 ERA for Tucson.

Cannon bounced around in 2007, appearing for the Somerset Patriots (2-3, 4.02), Lincoln Saltdogs (1-0, 1 R in 16 IP) and the La New Bears (5 R in 5 2/3 IP) to end his career.

Sources

• 1997-2004 Baseball Almanacs
• Defunct IBAF site
• Chinese Wiki Baseball