Deacon Jones (infielder)
| Deacon Jones | |||
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| File:Deacon Jones 1963.png
Jones in 1963
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| First baseman | |||
| Born: April 18, 1934 White Plains, New York |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 8, 1962, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 1, 1966, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .286 | ||
| Home runs | 1 | ||
| Runs batted in | 10 | ||
| Teams | |||
Grover William "Deacon" Jones (born April 18, 1934) is a retired American professional baseball player, coach, manager and scout. He appeared in 40 Major League games as a first baseman and pinch hitter for the Chicago White Sox (1962–63; 1966). Jones attended Ithaca College, threw right-handed, batted left-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
In his 11-year minor-league career (1955–56; 1959–67; 1969), Jones batted .319 with 154 home runs and a slugging percentage of .528. His big-league experience consisted of 60 plate appearances and he batted .286 (14 hits in 49 at bats) with one home run (hit off Jim Hannan of the Washington Senators on September 28, 1963)[1] and 10 runs batted in. A great natural hitter, Jones still holds the Midwest League record for the highest single-season batting average when he hit .409 for the Dubuque Packers in 1956. He also had 135 hits, smashed 26 homers and had a .758 slugging percentage in only 330 at bats. Had Jones not suffered a shoulder injury during spring training of 1956 with the White Sox, it is not unreasonable to speculate that he might have had a substantial Major-League career as a contemporary of other great African-American players of the era such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson.
After retiring as a player, Jones served as a scout and minor-league coach and manager in the White Sox organization through 1973. Jones was a coach for the Houston Astros from 1976–82, and with the San Diego Padres from 1984–87.
In Bleep! Larry Bowa Manages (Bonus Books, 1988), author Barry Bloom detailed that Jones was fired, along with two other coaches, from the Padres at the conclusion of the 1987 season. Jones joined the Baltimore Orioles as a minor-league hitting coach and liaison with minority communities.
Jones is currently serving as the special assistant to the president for the Sugar Land Skeeters, a member of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Pages with broken file links
- 1934 births
- Living people
- Appleton Foxes players
- Baltimore Orioles scouts
- Baseball players from New York
- Chicago White Sox players
- Chicago White Sox scouts
- Dubuque Packers players
- Fox Cities Foxes players
- Houston Astros coaches
- Indianapolis Indians players
- Lincoln Chiefs players
- Lynchburg White Sox players
- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Major League Baseball hitting coaches
- Minor league baseball coaches
- People from White Plains, New York
- San Diego Padres coaches
- San Diego Padres (minor league) players
- Sarasota Sun Sox players
- Waterloo White Hawks players
