Mike Jones (jonesmi02)

Michael Carl Jones

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 6", Weight 215 lb.
• High School Pittsford Sutherland High School
• Debut September 6, 1980
• Final Game October 6, 1985
• Born July 30, 1959 in Rochester, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mike Jones' uncle, Bert Jones, was a catcher selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 amateur draft. Mike was a first-round selection by the Kansas City Royals in the 1977 amateur draft, out of high school.

He made his major league debut late in the 1980 season, then had a very good first season for the Royals in 1981, going 6-3, 3.21 after the strike. He also started Game 3 of the Division Series against the Oakland Athletics and only gave up 2 runs in 8 innings, but was still saddled with the loss. Before that, he had put together three very solid seasons in the Royals' minor league organization: he went 13-9, 3.67 at Fort Myers in 1978, 13-6, 3.87 at Jacksonville in 1980, and 11-7, 2.98 at Omaha while pitching a no-hitter to begin 1981. However, on December 21st of that year, he suffered a broken neck in an automobile accident, almost ending his career on the spot.

He missed the entire 1982 season, then went back to Fort Myers in 1983 to begin a comeback. He made it back to the Royals in 1984, after going 4-5, 3.44 in 11 starts at Omaha. He had a 4.89 ERA for the Royals that year, but got to pitch again in the postseason, giving up a run in one inning and a third in a relief stint against the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. He spent all of 1985 with the Royals, but the team had a great young pitching staff that year, and he saw relatively little action. In 33 games, he went 3-3, 4.78, pitching mainly in long relief, and was not used in the postseason as the Royals clinched the only World Championship in team history. He was released by the Royals at the end of spring training in 1986, then was picked up by the Atlanta Braves and spent almost the entire season in AAA with the Richmond Braves, where he went 7-6, 4.99. He became a free agent and signed with the Montreal Expos, but was injured in spring training and had to spend half of the season in rehabilitation with the Class A Burlington Expos, before finishing the year at AAA Indianapolis. He kept pitching in AAA until 1990, but never made it back to the big leagues in spite of doing well in both 1988, when he had a 2.54 ERA for the Nashville Sounds and 1989, when he was 9-7, 3.35, with the Rochester Red Wings. Overall for his major league career, Mike Jones was 11-10, 4.43 in 71 games.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 1985 (he did not play in the World Series)