There is Nothing to Save

In the history of baseball, there have been 26 guys that have 300 or more saves.  Only five have saved more than 400.  If you look at active players, Joe Nathan could get to that number with one more decent season.  Francisco Rodriguez and Jonathan Papelbon should finish around there at the end of the 2016 season.  But we’re not here to talk about those guys.  Today, we’re looking at a guy that barely hit 300.  And, like I do a lot of times around here, I’ll speculate it’s probably because of bad timing and/or bad luck that he didn’t have more.  Today’s subject is Doug Jones.

Jones was drafted in the third round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Central Arizona College in Coolidge, AZ.  The Vaqueros have produced a total of 16 major leaguers, including Scott Hairston, Ian Kinsler and Tom Pagnozzi, but have produced an astounding 152 draft picks since 1972.  Only five other players from the third round in 1978 made the majors, combining for 24 career WAR, vs. 21.8 career WAR from Jones.

Upon signing with the Brewers, Jones was assigned to A- ball Newark.  Despite being slightly older than league average, he struggled in his first taste of professional ball, going 2-4 with a 5.21 ERA in 38 innings in 15 games, with 15 walks and two saves.  Three of his games were starts, and he completed one of them.  He had an unknown number of strikeouts, because that would have been too hard to keep count.  Being New Jersey, the scorekeeper was probably too busy embezzling or gardening.

How could the defense
respect a pitcher
without a mustache?

By the time 1979 rolled around, Jones was 22, and the Brewers figured it was time to move him up, even if his prior year stats were less than impressive.  He would be promoted to A ball Burlington, and he would do much better.  Although he only went 10-10, he had a fantastic 1.75 ERA in 190 innings across 28 games, with 115 strikeouts vs. 73 walks.  He started 20 games that year, and completed 16 with three shutouts.  He likely would have had more wins that season if 42% of the runs he allowed that season were not of the unearned variety.

Jones was quickly moved up the ladder in 1980, and he was used exclusively as a starter that year.  He started the season in A ball Stockton, where he went 6-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 76 innings across 11 games, with 54 strikeouts vs. 31 walks.  He was then promoted to AA Holyoke, where he went 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 62 innings across eight games, with 39 strikeouts vs. 26 walks.  He then advanced to AAA Vancouver, where he went 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 53 innings across eight games, with 28 strikeouts vs. 15 walks.  Overall, he went 14-7 with a 2.97 ERA in 191 innings across 27 games, with 121 strikeouts vs. 72 walks.  He had 10 complete games with two shutouts.

Jones would find himself back in AA to start 1981, this time in El Paso.  He would go 5-7 with a 5.80 ERA in 90 innings across 15 games, with 62 strikeouts vs. 28 walks.  Still, the Brewers promoted him back to Vancouver, where he was able to right the ship.  He went 5-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 80 innings across 11 games, with 38 strikeouts vs. 22 walks.  Overall, he went 10-10 with a 4.50 ERA in 170 innings across 26 games.  All but one of those games were starts, and he had five complete games with one shutout.

In 1982, Jones would actually start the season with the big club.  He would make his Major League debut on April 9th that season.  In a 15-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, Jones quickly retired Tony Johnson, Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw in the bottom of the ninth to finish the game.  Two days later, again in mop up duty in a 14-5 victory over the Blue Jays, he allowed a solo home run to Ernie Whitt, a single to Damaso Garcia and a walk to Otto Velez, but that was all the Blue Jays could get against him that day.  Three days later, he would get his first career strikeout, getting the Indians Chris Bando.  He would pitch his last major league game of the season four days later, when he allowed two runs on two hits in a third of an inning in a 9-6 loss to the Texas Rangers.  In those four games, he no record, throwing 2.2 innings in four games with a 10.13 ERA, with one strikeout and one walk.

Jones was sent back down to AAA Vancouver for the remainder of the 1982 season.  At age 25, he was right in line with the league average age, but the mix of younger guys and older guys probably had him wondering what his major league future would be like, if he had one at all.  The Brewers still couldn’t decide what they wanted to do with him in Vancouver.  There, he went 5-8 with a 2.97 ERA in 106 innings across 23 games, with 60 strikeouts vs. 31 walks.  He started nine games, throwing four complete games and two shutouts, and he also had two saves.

Jones was injured for much of the 1983 season.  He only threw seven innings in three games, going 0-1 with a 10.29 ERA, with four strikeouts and five walks at AAA Vancouver.

In 1984, he was back in AA El Paso for most of the season.  He went 6-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 109.1 innings across 16 games, with 62 strikeouts vs. 35 walks.  He started all 16 games, and completed seven of them.  He was then promoted to AAA Vancouver, where he went 1-0 with a 10.12 ERA in eight innings across three games, with two strikeouts vs. three walks.  He pitched all three games in relief.

After the 1984 season, Jones was granted free agency.  In early April of 1985, he signed with the Cleveland Indians.  He would spend all of that season at AA Waterbury, going 9-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 116 innings across 39 games, with 113 strikeouts vs. 36 walks.  He only started one game, finished 35 games, and had one save.

In 1986, back with the Indians organization, he found himself at AAA Maine.  There, he went 5-6 with a 2.09 ERA in 116.1 innings across 43 games, with 98 strikeouts vs. 27 walks.  He started three of those games, finished 21 games, and had nine saves.

His performance at Maine earned him a September callup.  More than four years after his last major league appearance, the 29 year old Jones would pitch in his fifth Major League game on September 5th.It was a shaky return, as he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk, with three strikeouts, in 1.1 innings in a 13-5 loss to his old team, the Brewers.  Nine days later, he would earn his first career save in a 5-2 victory over the Oakland A’s.  Twelve days after that, he would earn his first career win.  He would throw the final two innings of a 12 inning victory over the Seattle Mariners.  In the top of the 12th, Otis Nixon hit a one out double, stole his 55th career base, and was knocked in with a Brook Jacoby triple.  Jacoby would score on a throwing error, and Jones would shut the door in the bottom of the frame, with the Indians winning 9-7.

After giving up five runs in his first three appearances back in the majors, Jones ended the month throwing 14.1 scoreless innings in his final eight games.  Overall, he went 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings across 11 games, with 12 strikeouts vs. six walks, and one save.  The Indians that season went 84-78, which may get you a playoff berth in 2014, but in 1986, that meant a fifth place finish, 11.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox.  Despite 84 wins, the Cleveland bullpen only had 34 saves.  Tom Candiotti didn’t help things, as he completed exactly half of his 34 starts that season, only three of which were shutouts.  Things were about to get better for Jones.  Things were about to get worse for the Indians.

Jones would start the 1987 in Cleveland, where he would stay for most of the month of April.  Being used as primarily a middle reliver, he threw 14 innings across seven games, going 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA, with 15 strikeouts vs. nine walks.  The Indians’ defense didn’t help him any, as only nine of the 16 runs he allowed were earned.  With only one of his seven appearances being scoreless, he was sent down to AAA Buffalo, where he seemed to quickly work out his issues.  There, he threw 61.2 innings across 23 games, going 5-2 with a 2.04 ERA and seven saves, with 61 strikeouts vs. just 12 walks.

When Jones was called back to Cleveland, they were riding a six game losing streak where they were outscored 52-18, with a record of 25-47 overall.  Jones, always a team player, helped contribute to the cause by allowing six earned runs in 2.2 innings over his first two appearances back in the majors.  Starting with his next appearance on July 2nd, through the end of the season, he was very good.  He would get the win in three of the next five games in which he pitched.  He would only allow more than one earned run in two games the rest of the season.  He would finish 6-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 91.1 innings across 49 games, with 87 strikeouts vs. 24 walks, and eight saves.  His eight saves actually led the Indians, who only had 25 saves a team on their way to finishing 61-101.  He actually fell one win short of being tied for the team lead in wins with Candiotti, Scott Bailes, and 48 year old Phil Niekro.

By the time 1988 rolled around, Jones was officially the Indians closer.  He didn’t allow a run in five April appearances, earning four saves.  On May 1st, he allowed six earned runs, losing to the A’s 8-4.  He wouldn’t allow another run the rest of May, adding an additional seven saves.  At the end of June, he had only allowed one additional run, with a total of 18 saves and a 1.75 ERA.  Despite not being as untouchable the rest of the season, he still finished the year at 3-4 with a 2.27 ERA in 83.1 innings across 51 games, with 72 strikeouts vs. just 16 walks, and 37 saves.  He was an All Star, and finished 15th in the AL MVP voting.  The Indians were still not good, finishing 78-84, but they were much less not good with Jones at the back end of the bullpen.

Jones was back doing Jones things in 1989.  At the end of June, he had allowed the exact same number of earned runs (seven) and had the same number of saves (18) as he did the previous year, with his ERA only slightly higher at 1.89.  By the middle of July, his ERA would fall to 1.42.  He had a rough patch between July 17th and August 1st, where he gave up nine earned runs in seven innings, going 1-3 with two saves and three blown saves.  After that stretch though, he got back on track, with a 1.53 ERA for the remainder of the season.  Overall, he was 7-10(!) with a 2.34 ERA in 80.2 innings across 59 games, with 65 strikeouts vs. 13 walks, and 32 saves.  His efforts again resulted in an All Star appearance.  The Indians finished 73-89, 16 games back of the first place Blue Jays, tied for the third worst record in the American League.

Jones started the 1990 campaign on fire.  Through May 15th, he threw 20 innings across 15 appearances without allowing a run, earning 13 saves.  At the end of June, Jones had yet again allowed a total of seven earned runs on the season for the third straight year.  However, this time, he had increased his saves total to 22, with a 1.50 ERA.  He wouldn’t allow a run the entire month of July, and on August 22nd, his ERA sat at 1.29.  Then came trouble.  In his next appearance, he allowed three runs, losing to the Red Sox 6-5.  Two days later, he allowed SEVEN runs on three hits and FIVE WALKS in one inning, losing again to the Red Sox, this time 9-2.  Over his next three appearances, he would allow three more earned runs in four innings, giving him an 18.90 ERA over that five game stretch.  The Indians stuck with him though, and through his last 12 appearances of the season, he only allowed one earned run in 15 innings, good for a 0.60 ERA.  In total that season, he was 5-5 with a 2.56 ERA in 84.1 innings across 66 games, with 55 strikeouts vs. 22 walks, with a career high 43 saves.  He was once again an All Star, and finished 23rd in the AL MVP voting.  The Indians were slightly better, finishing at 77-85, but still well behind the first place Red Sox.

1991 would mark the last year in Cleveland for Jones.  Well, for a few years anyway.  He never could quite get it going that season.  After allowing six earned runs on May 10th in a 12-2 loss to the California Angels, his ERA hit a season high 11.32.  He would make his last relief appearance on July 16th, losing to the A’s 7-6 in 13 innings, dropping his record to 1-7 on the season.  Whoa there, back up, friend.  Last RELIEF appearance?  What does that mean?

Whether it was injury, or just something mechanical, Jones would next pitch at AAA Colorado Springs.  There, he went 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 35.2 innings across 17 games, with 29 strikeouts vs. five walks, and seven saves.  Two of those games were starts, and one was a complete game shutout, his first complete game and shutout since pitching at AAA Vancouver in 1982.

At this point, I’m assuming the Indians had already made up their minds that Jones wouldn’t be back the following year.  Why?  In his first game back on September 10th, Jones fell one inning short of a complete game, only allowing two runs in a 5-2 victory over the Brewers.  He threw 139 pitches.  I guess if you’re not bringing him back, there’s no need to look at pitch count.  A week later, Jones would scatter nine hits and two walks over eight innings of one run ball, striking out 13 in a 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.  He would throw 133 pitches that game.  Eight days later, he would beat the Tigers again, this time allowing four runs in seven innings of a 6-4 victory.  A week later, he would lose to the Brewers 11-4, allowing six runs in 7.1 innings.  In his final appearance on October 5th, he earned a save in the 12th inning in a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees.  With a broken Jones, and no plan B, the 1991 Cleveland Indians finished 57-105.  They had 33 saves, and 18 blown saves.  At least no one noticed – they averaged less than 13,000 fans per game.  Jones finished 4-8 (but 3-1 as a starter!) with a 5.54 ERA in 63.1 innings across 36 games, with 48 strikeouts vs. 17 walks, and seven saves.

Jones would sign with the Houston Astros for the 1992 season.  Jones opened the season with 9.2 scoreless innings across seven appearances for the Astros.  By the end of June, he was 4-5 with 17 saves and a 2.09 ERA.  He would lead the team in wins and saves in July, with four of each.  He was exceptional down the stretch, going 3-0 with eight saves and a 0.83 ERA in September.  Jones led the Astros that season in wins, going 11-8 with a career low 1.85 ERA in 111.2 innings across 80 games, with 93 strikeouts vs. 17 walks, and 36 saves.  He was a big part of the Astros improvement, when they went 81-81, 16 wins better than the previous season.  Still, he would have had many more save opportunities if he wasn’t busy earning wins.  He was again an All Star, and he finished 14th in the NL MVP voting.

In 1993, Jones would find himself back in Houston.  Through June 12th, when he would earn his 13th save of the season, he had an ERA of 3.13.  Then, the wheels came off.  He allowed 12 earned runs on 20 hits over 4.2 innings over his next four appearances, good for a 23.14 ERA.  For the remainder of the season, he would have a rough outing here and there, but he had a 3.74 ERA with 13 more saves.  He finished the season 4-10 with a 4.54 ERA in 85.1 innings across 71 games, with 66 strikeouts vs. 21 walks, and 26 saves.  Other than his brief appearances in 1982 and 1986, this was the first time that he was on a team that finished over .500, as the Astros finished 85-77, so his struggles that season were certainly a case of bad luck.

Jones quickly adopted
the "Phillies" look.

Before the start of the 1994 season, Jones was traded with Jeff Juden to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mitch Williams.Being that the Phillies were the defending National League champions, surely this was the opportunity for Jones to finally be on a winner, and even taste the postseason.  Unfortunately, this would not be the case.  He had two bad games the first half of the season – a four run outing on May 10th in a loss to the Braves, and a three run outing on June 30th in a loss to the Dodgers – but other than that, he was solid.  At the end of June, he had 20 saves with a 2.33 ERA.  He would only have another six weeks to play, due to the strike that season, but over that time frame, he added an additional seven saves with a 1.76 ERA.  If you take out the two games listed above, he only allowed six earned runs in his additional 45 appearances.  Overall, he was 2-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 54 innings across 47 games, with 38 strikeouts vs. just six walks, with 27 saves.  He would make the All Star team for the fifth and final time of his career.  The Phillies would finish 54-61.  Once again, Jones had very little to save.

The now 38 year old Jones would sign with the Orioles for the 1995 campaign.  His return to the American League did not go smoothly.  At the end of June, he only had 11 saves with a 4.12 ERA.  His July was a little better, as he had eight saves with a 2.92 ERA, but in his first three appearances in August, he allowed 10 runs in just two innings.  He would only have four appearances and two saves September.  He finished the year at 0-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 46.2 innings across 52 games, with 42 strikeouts vs. 16 walks, and 22 saves.  Most were probably wondering if this was the end of the road for him, probably even Jones himself.  The Orioles finished 71-73.

In 1996, Jones would return to the National League for the start of the season, signing with the Chicago Cubs.  He would only last there through mid-June, when he had two saves vs. five blown saves, and a 5.01 ERA.  At the end of June, the Brewers resigned their former player.  In his first appearance back with them after 14 years away, he got his first hold of the season in a 4-3 win over the Mariners.  With the Brewers, he went 5-0 with a 3.41 ERA and two holds, one save and three blown saves.  Between the Cubs and Brewers, he went 7-2 with a 4.22 ERA in 64 innings across 52 games, with 60 strikeouts vs. 20 walks, and just three saves.  With the Cubs and Brewers having Turk Wendell and Mike Fetters at the back end of their bullpen, there were few save opportunities for Jones.  Both teams finished under .500.

Jones became a free agent, but resigned with the Brewers for the 1997 season.  At age 40, he had perhaps his finest season.  At the end of June, he had 19 saves, with only one blown save, and a 2.68 ERA.  He would make a quick trip to the disabled list the second half of July.  In his third appearance back, he gave up a run in a loss to the A’s on August 7th.  He wouldn’t give up another run until his final appearance of the season on September 27th, a streak that covered 27 innings in 23 games.  Overall, he went 6-6 with a 2.02 ERA in 80.1 innings across 75 games, with 82 strikeouts vs. just nine walks, and 36 saves.  He didn’t make the All Star team, but he did finish 20th in the AL MVP voting.  He finished 73 of the games he appeared in, leading the league and setting a career high.  He also set career highs in K/9 (9.18) and BB/9 (0.99), and he set career lows in H/9 (6.9) and WHIP (0.884).  He was player of the week for the week of July 13th, where he earned three saves in three innings in three games, only allowing one hit and striking out two.  OK, it was the short half-week after the All Star break.  It was a good belated 40th birthday present.  Despite Jones’ career-season efforts, the Brewers finished 78-83.

The Brewers would bring their talents to the National League for the 1998 season.  Jones would start the season with them, but he wouldn’t be nearly as effective as the previous season.  He would have a blown save in the first and last two appearances in April, and by the end of June, he had eight total, with 12 actual saves, along with a 4.21 ERA.  He would only make four appearances for the Brewers in July, allowing nine runs in seven innings, including five in an 11-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves on July 19th.  Four days later, he was traded back to the Indians for Eric Plunk.  With Michael Jackson on his way to a 40 save season, there was no full time save opportunities for Jones, but he did return to respectability.  After rolling up a 5.17 ERA with the Brewers, he brought it down to 3.45 with the Indians.  He would earn his final save with the Indians on August 31st, throwing 3.1 innings of shutout ball in a 15-6 win over the A’s.

While Jones was probably happy to be back in Cleveland, reliving his youth, he was probably more excited he was on a winner.  The Indians went 89-73, earning them a showdown with the Red Sox in the ALDS.  Jones would relieve starter Jaret Wright in the first game of the series.  Wright gave up six runs in 4.1 innings, and Jones wasn’t exactly sharp.  He allowed a two run home run to Mo Vaughn, which would be his only blemish in 2.2 innings pitched that day.  The Indians would go on to lose Game 1 11-3, but they would win the next three games to advance to the ALCS.  Jones was left off of the roster, and the Indians would go on to lose to the Yankees in six games.  For the season, between Milwaukee and Cleveland, Jones combined to go 4-6 with a 4.54 ERA in 85.1 innings in 69 games, with 71 strikeouts vs. 17 walks, with 13 saves.

Jones would head out west in 1999, joining the A’s.  He did a fine job that season, setting up closer Billy Taylor, and providing veteran leadership.  At the end of June, he would have three saves and six holds, with a 3.20 ERA.  He had a rough August, with an ERA of 6.88, but he finished the season strong with a 1.32 ERA in September.  The A’s finished the season 87-75, but that wasn’t good enough to win the AL West, finishing eight games back of the Rangers.  Jones would finish the season at 5-5 with a 3.55 ERA across 104 innings in 70 games, with 63 strikeouts vs. 24 walks, with 10 saves.  He was the second oldest player in the league, less than two months younger than Jessie Orosco, and his 70 games pitched were 10th most in the league.

The 2000 season would be Jones’ last year in the majors.  It didn’t start out too well, as he gave up three or more runs in three different games through is first 15 appearances.  After the last one, his ERA sat at 7.52 on May 21st.  He got things back in order for the rest of the season, with a 2.55 ERA through the rest of the season.  He would earn his last career save in a 10-4 win over the San Diego Padres on June 7th, and his last career win came in a 9-7 win over the Angels on September 27th.  The A’s finished the season at 91-70.  The Mariners also had 91 wins, but they also had one more loss.  The A’s were awarded first place due to winning the season series.  They would lose in the ALDS to the Yankees, but Jones would have two scoreless appearances in the series, finishing Games 2 and 4 in non-save situations.  Overall for the season, he went 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 73.1 innings across 54 games, with 54 strikeouts vs. 18 walks, with two saves.

For his career, Jones went 69-79 with a 3.30 ERA in 1128.1 innings across 846 games, with 909 strikeouts vs. just 247 walks, and 303 saves.  Of his walks, 53 of them were intentional.  His unintentional walk rate was 1.57/9 innings.  His career K/9 innings rate of 7.251 ranks 100th all time, but his career K/BB rate of 3.68 is 10th all time.  His saves total is 24th all time, two places and seven saves behind Hall of Famer Rich Gossage, and one place and three saves ahead of Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter.

1.  Grow an epic mustache.
2.  Save a lot of games.
3.  PROFIT.

When the Hall of Fame came calling for Jones in 2006, he only received 0.4% of the vote.  This was not nearly high enough to continue on the ballot, so he fell off after that one year.  Ironically enough, this was the same year that Sutter and Gossage were elected, while fellow relievers John Wetteland and Rick Aguilera also dropped off the ballot.  There were a lot of “Ifs” working against Jones to have a shot at the hall.  If he had started earlier, if he had been on better teams, if he had save opportunities when he was on a good team, etc.

Not counting his brief appearance in 1982, Jones’ teams combined for a .484 winning percentage over his career.  What if he had been on better teams?  If they could have kicked that up to around .520, that would have equaled roughly 83 more wins over 15 years.  Even if you figure a conservative 35% conversion rate for those additional wins, that would give him close to 30 more saves.  Would 330+ saves have helped his cause?  Wetteland would like to point out that his 330 saves did nothing to convince the writers.  But Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, sitting in with 341 saves, might object.

NO MUELLER YOU'RE
DOING IT ALL WRONG
LOOK AT THE BALL
NOT THE CAMERA!!!

Maybe if Jones had more pickoffs, he could have made the Hall of Fame.  Through his 809th game on May 31st, 2000, he had never had a pickoff.  That changed in game 810 on June 2nd.  He entered the game in the top of the seventh, relieving starter T.J. Mathews.  After getting Jeff Kent to fly out to right, he picked off Barry Bonds, who had singled and knocked Mathews out of the game.  Bill Mueller walked to lead off the inning, but he was stranded at third after Jones got Ellis Burks to ground out to short.  Jones would then come out of the game in the eighth, but would earn the hold after Jason Isringhausen earned career save number 21, and the A’s won 5-4 over the San Francisco Giants.

Perhaps if he had been more of an offensive force, he may have also got some votes.  He only had one career hit in eight plate appearances.  This was in a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 12th, 1994.  After entering the game in the bottom of the eighth, he came to bat in the top of the ninth with one out.  He singled off of Dan Miceli to right field, and reached second on a wild pitch to Lenny Dykstra.  Dykstra would then walk, and then Miceli hit Mariano Duncan.  Jones could smell his first career run coming on, but it was not to be.  Dave Hollins popped out to catcher, and Darren Daulton struck out swinging, stranding the bases loaded.  Jones shut the door in the bottom of the frame for the save.

When you look back at his career, Jones was a very good closer on some very bad teams.  In other words, there was nothing to save.  Good thing he had some epic facial hair to mask his tears.