Ross Jones (Australia)

From BR Bullpen

Ross Jones (The Great Man)

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 176 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Side-arm hurler Ross Jones was one of the top closers in the Australian Baseball League, winning Reliever of the Year three times. He was on the Australian national team several times.

When the ABL formed in 1989-1990, Jones was already 29 years old; he had begun his career as a shortstop. He was 5-1 with a save and a 2.79 ERA for the Melbourne Monarchs, but allowed a .392 average, hardly indicating the stardom he would have over the next few years. He was 3-3 with two saves and a 4.88 ERA for the Melbourne Bushrangers in 1991. [1] He was on Australia's team for the 1991 Asian Championship. [2]

Jones was 5-0 with 3 saves and a 2.31 ERA for Melbourne in 1991-1992, his opponent average now down to .232. [3] He tied Simon Eissens and Kyle Duey for third in games pitched (17) and tied for fourth in saves. [4]

The Monarchs returned in 1992-1993 and Jones had his best season at 1-1, 1.11 with 13 saves while the Monarchs reigned supreme. He led the ABL in saves, four ahead of [{Bob Nilsson]], setting the single-season save record in the process. He tied Phil Dale and Brett Cederblad for third with 17 appearances. [5] He won Reliever of the Year. [6]

Ross was with Australia for the 1993 Asian Championship. [7] He was 1-0 with a save and a 1.13 ERA as Australia's top hurler in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, getting the win in a major upset over Team USA and Steve Reich, retiring Todd Walker to wrap up two shutout innings after replacing Cederblad. The save was a two-inning scoreless outing as well, wrapping up Simon Sheldon-Collins' win over Italy. [8]

The Victoria native was nearly as excellent in the 1993-1994 ABL, going 2-4 with ten saves and a 1.21 ERA. He led the loop with 21 appearances (one ahead of Kim Jessop) and again beat out Nilsson for the save lead (this time by three). [9] He repeated as Reliever of the Year. [10]

Jones again shone on the international stage, not allowing a run in 4 2/3 IP over five appearances in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, a bright spot on a team with a 6.15 ERA; Cederblad helped out with a 0.96 mark. He tied for the Cup lead in games pitched, even with Tetsuo Kawajiri, Dong-hwan Mun and Sun-dong Lim. [11] It was his last stint with the national time.

He fell to 3-5 with 9 saves and a 5.29 ERA in the 1994-1995 ABL. He still led the league in saves (one more than Nilsson) while tying Grahame Cassel for 4th in games pitched (23). [12] He also won Reliever of the Year despite his decline. [13]

The right-hander was 2-3 with five saves and a 3.67 ERA for the 1995-1996 Monarchs. He was third in saves, behind Shayne Bennett and Cassel. [14] He had no decisions or saves and a 3.70 ERA in 17 games for Melbourne in 1996-1997 to end his career. [15]

He had gone 21-17 with 43 saves and a 3.03 ERA in 146 games in the ABL, walking only 54 in 258 1/3 IP. [16] When the ABL ended its initial ten-year run (it would be revived in 2010), he was among the league's career leaders in ERA (3rd, behind MLBer Graeme Lloyd and Don Lemon), IP (20th), games pitched (146, 4th, between Dale and Shane Tonkin), wins (17th), saves (2nd, 10 behind Nilsson and 8 ahead of #3 Cassel) and hits allowed (325, 17th, between Mark Respondek and John Challinor). [17]

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14
  2. ↑ Correspondence with Glenn Williams of the Australian Baseball Federation
  3. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14
  4. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-5
  5. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14 and 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-6
  6. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 5-6
  7. ↑ Documents sent by 1993 Australian team member Shane Tonkin
  8. ↑ Defunct IBAF site
  9. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14 and 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-7
  10. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 5-7
  11. ↑ Defunct IBAF site
  12. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14 and 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-8
  13. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 5-8
  14. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14 and 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-9
  15. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-14
  16. ↑ ibid.
  17. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-22
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