| Randy Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones with theSan Diego Padres in 1977 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1950-01-12)January 12, 1950 Fullerton, California, U.S. | |
| Died: November 18, 2025(2025-11-18) (aged 75) | |
Batted: Right Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 16, 1973, for the San Diego Padres | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 7, 1982, for the New York Mets | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 100–123 |
| Earned run average | 3.42 |
| Strikeouts | 735 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Randall Leo Jones (January 12, 1950 – November 18, 2025), nicknamed "Junkman", was an American professionalbaseball player who was a left-handedpitcher. He was astarting pitcher inMajor League Baseball (MLB), primarily with theSan Diego Padres. A two-timeAll-Star selection, Jones won theNational League (NL)Cy Young Award with San Diego in 1976, after finishing second in 1975. The Padresretired hisNo. 35.
In his finalstart in 1976, Jones damaged a nerve in his throwing arm, and underwent surgery. He pitched six more seasons, spending the final two with theNew York Mets, but never returned to his peak form. Jones was known for hissinker, the large number of ground-ball outs he induced, and his exceptional control. He was inducted into theSan Diego Padres Hall of Fame.
Jones was born on January 12, 1950, inFullerton, California. He attendedBrea-Olinda High School inBrea, California, where he had an 8–2win–loss record with a 0.91earned run average (ERA) and 110strikeouts as asenior. AtChapman College (now University) inOrange, California,[1] he was their top pitcher for three years, and was named anAll-American as a senior.[2]
During high school, Jones sufferedtendinitis in his pitching arm.[3] He had a finefastball as a collegefreshman,[1] but arm problems sapped hisvelocity.[a] However, he developed the ability to set up hitters with excellentcontrol, moving pitches to different parts of theplate, and altering pitching speeds. Jones came to rely on hissinker andslider, rather than fastballs.[3]
From 1969 to 1972 at Chapman, Jones won 27 games, and was named the team'smost valuable player each year. In his All-American senior year, Chapman had 38 wins and was the runner-up at theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Far West Regionals. Jones set school records forstrikeouts in a season with 155 in 1972, and career strikeouts with 311.[6]
TheSan Diego Padres selected Jones in the fifth round of the1972 Major League Baseball draft.[6] In 1972, the Padres assigned Jones to theSingle-ATri-City Padres, where he played in one game, and theDouble-AAlexandria Aces where hestarted 11 games.[7] He only had a 3–5 record with Alexandria, but had a 2.91 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 68innings pitched.[8] He began 1973 in Alexandria, where he had a 8–1 record, 2.01 ERA, threecomplete games, oneshutout and 67 strikeouts in 67 innings.[9]
Jones's Double-A pitching coachWarren Hacker suggested Jones work on developing hissinker, which proved successful for Jones. Over the ensuing years, he would develop techniques that added to his deceptiveness in throwing velocity and durability as a pitcher.[10] Jones nickname as a Padre would be "Junkman".[11]
Jones made his major league debut with the Padres on June 16,1973, pitching 1 1/3 innings as arelief pitcher.[12] He started every other game in which he appeared that year (19), and had a 7–6 record, with a 3.16 ERA in his rookie season.[13] In1974, Jones went 8–22 with a 4.45 ERA.[13] His 22 losses were tied for worst in the National League,[14] with the Padres scoring one or fewer runs in 12 of those losses.[15]
In1975, Jones was 20–12 and led the National League with a 2.24 ERA,[13][16] earningThe Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award.[17] He had 18 complete games in 36 starts,[16] and became the first 20-game winner in Padres franchise history.[18] Jones was second in wins and WAR (wins above replacement) (7.5) among pitchers, only behind futureBaseball Hall of Fame pitcherTom Seaver (22 wins and 7.8 WAR).[19][20] TheNew York Mets' Seaver finished first in theCy Young Award voting, receiving 15 first place votes to Jones's seven.[21] Jones felt he lost out due to a lack of exposure to the influential New York media.[22] He was selected to the 1975 NL All-Star team,[23] and finished 10th inNL Most Valuable Player voting.[21]
His best season was in1976,[24] when he survived a car crash, went 22–14 with a 2.74 ERA, and started theAll-Star Game againstMark Fidrych.[25] San Diego won just 73 games that season, with Jones being the winning pitcher in almost 30%.[16] He became the first Padre to win the Cy Young Award,[18] and was also the first in franchise history to receive a postseason award from theBaseball Writers' Association of America.[22]The Sporting News named himtheir NL Pitcher of the Year,[26] and selected him as the left-handed pitcher on their NL All-Star Team for the second consecutive season.[13] From May 17 to June 22, Jones pitched 68 consecutive innings without allowing abase on balls, tying the 63-year-old NL record set by Hall of FamerChristy Mathewson in 1913.[1][27] Their NL record was broken in 2001 by Hall of Fame pitcherGreg Maddux.[28][29] At the All-Star break in July 1976, Jones's record was 16–3, a first-half win total that set an NL record which no one has equaled since.[b][1][30][36]Sports Illustrated placed him on their cover with the headline "Threat to win 30. San Diego’s confounding Randy Jones".[18] He finished the season as the major league leader in wins, complete games (25), games started (40), and innings pitched (315.1).[18] In addition he was tied for second in the NL with five shutouts.[37] Jones had only 93 strikeouts, an average of 2.7per nine innings pitched,[38] but walked even fewer (50), while forcing opponents into 35double plays.[10] As of 2025[update], he was the only pitcher in the past 90 years to pitch 300 innings with fewer that 100 strikeouts.[15] His strikeout rate was even low for his era, ranking 84th out of 88 qualifying starters that season with a strikeout percentage of only 7.4%.[16] He led the NL with a 1.027walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) even though he allowed an NL-high 274hits.[10]
Jones owns the distinction of recording asave for the NL in the1975 All-Star Game and being the starting and winning pitcher the next year.[39][40] During his last start of the 1976 season, he injured a nerve in his pitching arm that required surgery, and he was never quite able to regain his Cy Young form.[1] Post-surgery in1977, he pitched less than half the number of innings he had pitched a year earlier, and ended up with a 6–12 record and 4.58 ERA.[13] On May 4, Jones and hisPhiladelphia counterpart,Jim Kaat, pitched the fastest game in Padres history at one hour and 29 minutes. San Diego won 4–1, as Jones induced 19ground-ball outs while striking out one and walking one.[18] He pitched effectively for San Diego in1978 and1979, with records of 13–14 and 11–12, 2.88 and 3.63 ERAs and 263 and 257 innings pitched, respectively in those years.[13] In1980, his record fell to 5–13, with a 3.91 ERA in only 154.1 innings pitched.[13]
On December 15, 1980, Jones was traded to the Mets forJosé Moreno andJohn Pacella.[11] After going 1–8 in1981, he began the1982 season at 6–2, before struggling and finishing at 7–10 with a 4.60 ERA. He pitched worse at home, surrendering 70 hits and 39earned runs in 47 innings atShea Stadium. The Mets released him after the season with two years remaining on his contract for $750,000.[41] Jones signed with thePittsburgh Pirates, but was released before the1983 season started, thus ending his playing career.[11]
After retiring from Major League Baseball, Jones coached young pitchers. His most prominent pupil wasBarry Zito,[42] who won the 2002 Cy Young Award with theOakland Athletics.[43] Another pupilJoe Musgrove pitched the firstno-hitter in Padres history.[44]
Jones finished his career with a win–loss record of 100–123 (.448) and a 3.42 ERA.[45] He remains the only starting pitcher to win a Cy Young Award but retire with a losing record.[46] In 285 starts, he threw 75 complete games, including 19 shutouts.[45] He rarely walked or struck out batters.[5] Jones's sinker, which "dropped like an anvil", was his default pitch that induced batters to hitground balls.[3] He was adept at forcingdouble plays.[5]Pete Rose, MLB's all-time hit leader who only had a .183 lifetimebatting average against him,[47] said that Jones threw "a 27-mile-per-hour (43 km/h) fastball".[5]Merv Rettenmund, a former teammate of Jones and Hall of Fame pitchersJim Palmer andNolan Ryan, stated that when Jones was at his peak there was no better pitcher he had ever seen.[48]
One of the Padres' first homegrown stars,[18] Jones had his uniform No. 35retired by the team on May 9, 1997.[3] His starts at home for San Diego spiked attendance by the thousands, and the crowd began a tradition on Opening Day in 1976 of greeting him with a pregame ovation.[49][5] That year, when he won the Cy Young, the Padres drew an average of 27,400 fans in his 21 home starts, compared to 15,769 in their other home games.[45] In its first six years of existence (1969–1974), the franchise never won more than 63 games and finished each season in last place in the six-teamNL West, but then won over 70 games in Jones's two peak years, when they finished fourth in 1975 and fifth in 1976.[18][50] He is credited with having put the Padres "on the map".[10]
Jones was inducted into the Chapman Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.[6][51][52] He was enshrined by theSan Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1996.[53] He was inducted as part of the inaugural class of theSan Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 1999.[54]
Jones was the subject of amalapropism by Padres broadcasterJerry Coleman who once said, "On the mound is Randy Jones, the left-hander with theKarl Marxhairdo." Coleman had intended to sayHarpo Marx.[55]
Jones married his high school sweetheart Marie (née Stassi),[24] and they had two daughters.[18] After retiring from playing, he ran a restaurant and catering business inSan Diego,[3] where he also operated a string of car washes.[1] He opened the popular Randy Jones BBQ on the concourse ofQualcomm Stadium before moving it to the Padres' new home atPetco Park.[18] In retirement, Jones became an ambassador for the Padres, often meeting and greeting with fans; also working at times on pre- and post-game Padres’ broadcasts.[48]
In 2016, Jones was diagnosed withthroat cancer, likely caused by years of usingchewing tobacco. His treatment was successful and he was declared cancer-free the following year.[56][57][58]
His post-career projects included the Randy Jones Run/Walk that raises money for Home of Guiding Hands, an organization benefiting the developmentally disabled in the San Diego area, with which Jones worked for many years.[58]
Jones died on November 18, 2025, at the age of 75.[18]
'I lost my balance on a pitch and something snapped,' Jones said. 'I had pulled some tendons ...'
Wilbur Wood, who had 16 wins at the break in 1974, was the last AL pitcher to reach the plateau. Wood, with 18 victories in 1972, holds the major league mark for wins at the break.
Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood won 18 games before the break in 1973, but didn't make the All-Star team (he was 18-14).
Rose had the second most at-bats of anyone Jones faced during his career with 93, but 'Charlie Hustle' managed just 17 hits (a .183 average), with only two being extra-base hits and just three RBIs.
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| National | |
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