Charles Leander "Bumpus" Jones (January 1, 1870 – June 25, 1938) was a right-handed starting pitcher in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants.

Early life

He was born in

Cedarville, Ohio Cedarville is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The village is within the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,019 at the 2010 census. History Cedarville was originally known as Milford, and under the latter ...

. Newspaper accounts from Cedarville have described him as being listed as black, albeit with skin that passed for Caucasian. Census reports listed him as a " mulatto". Genelogical research has speculated that Jones came from "Pocahontas' people in Virginia."

Baseball career

Jones made only eight appearances in his brief major league career, he threw a no-hitter in his first major league appearance with the Cincinnati Reds on October 15, 1892, the last day of the season. The victims that day were the Pittsburgh Pirates, who lost 7–1. Jones was not perfect, as he gave up four walks, and he did not pitch a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, as an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

led to an

unearned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an error ...

. But it was quite a start, and was his only outing of the season. This is still the latest date in the season that a no-hitter has ever been pitched in major league history. It was also one of the last games played with a "pitcher's box" with the pitcher beginning 55 1/2 feet from home plate; the following season, the

pitcher's mound A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refe ...

would be introduced, with pitchers starting their pitch on a rubber slab 60 feet and 6 inches from home plate. After that, Jones split 1893 between Cincinnati and the New York Giants, appearing in seven games overall, while going 1–4 with a 10.19

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Jones would never pitch in the majors again. He remains the only player in Major League history to pitch a no-hitter in his first game. Only Bobo Holloman of the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

Ted Breitenstein Theodore P. ("Ted" or "Breit") Breitenstein (June 1, 1869 – May 3, 1935) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from St. Louis, Missouri who played from to for the St. Louis Browns/Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds. He is best known f ...

of the

, and

Tyler Gilbert Tyler Gregory Gilbert (born December 22, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He made his major league debut on August 3, 2021. In his first major league start, on August 14, Gilbert threw a ...

of the Arizona Diamondbacks have managed to join Jones as pitchers to throw no-hitters in their first major league start, but they had previously appeared in a relief role. According to sabermetrician Bill James, Jones edges out Holloman for the distinction of mathematically least likely pitcher ever to have thrown a no-hitter in the major leagues. In a two-season major league career, Jones posted a 2–4 career record with 10 strikeouts and a 7.99 ERA in innings of labor. After leaving the major leagues, Jones continued to pitch professionally. Jones pitched for the Grand Rapids Rippers and Sioux City Cornhuskers in 1894. He pitched for the

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and Americ ...

from 1896 to 1899, and until recently was credited with the team record for career games pitched, with 212. Modern research, however, indicates that the actual total may be closer to 150.Bean ties uncertain record
, Craig Merz, The

Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

, published August 16, 2006, accessed August 16, 2006. Jones finished his minor league career with the St. Paul Saints in 1901.

Death

Jones died in

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Gree ...

, at age 68 from complications of a stroke, and he was laid to rest at North Cemetery in

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Bumpus 1870 births 1938 deaths People from Cedarville, Ohio Cincinnati Reds players New York Giants (NL) players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Ohio 19th-century baseball players Aurora (minor league baseball) players Monmouth (minor league baseball) players Aurora Maroons players Quincy Ravens players Portland Gladiators players Ottumwa Coal Palaces players Joliet Convicts players Aurora Indians players Atlanta Firecrackers players Providence Clamdiggers (baseball) players Sioux City Cornhuskers players Grand Rapids Rippers players Grand Rapids Gold Bugs players Columbus Buckeyes (minor league) players Columbus Senators players Grand Rapids Furnituremakers players Cleveland Lake Shores players Fort Wayne Indians players Wheeling Stogies players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players

Early life

Baseball career

Death

See also

References

External links