Samuel Pond "Sad Sam" Jones (July 26, 1892 – July 6, 1966) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

between 1914 and 1935. Jones batted and threw right-handed. His sharp breaking curveball also earned him the nickname "Horsewhips Sam".

Career

In a 22-year career, Jones compiled a 229–217 record with 1223

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and a 3.84 ERA in 3,883

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Jones signed his first professional contract in 1913, with the Flood Sufferers in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, the city is approximately east of Columbus, Ohio, Columb ...

. After brief stints with two other minor league teams, he made his major league debut with the Indians in 1914. Before the 1916 season, he was sent to Boston in the same trade that brought

Tris Speaker Tristram Edgar Speaker (April 4, 1888 – December 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1907 to 1928. Considered one o ...

to Cleveland. In 1918, Jones joined the Red Sox starting rotation, ending with a 16–5 mark, a career-best 2.25 ERA, and a league-best .762

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

. His most productive season came in 1921, when he posted career-highs in wins (23), strikeouts (98) and innings (298.2), and led the league in

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s (5). But his most remembered season may have been 1923 as the ace of the Yankees' staff; he posted a 21–8 record with a 3.63 ERA and led his team to their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

title. Jones also no-hit the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

2-0 on September 4 at

Shibe Park Shibe Park ( , rhymes with "vibe"), known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) from 1909 to 1954 and the Philadelphia Phillies of the Natio ...

, in a game in which he did not record a

the entire game. Only two other pitchers ( Earl Hamilton and Ken Holtzman) have thrown a no-hitter with no strikeouts. Jones was 2–1 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in that World Series, and his crucial

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

work in the final game of the Series clinched the championship for the Yankees. Like most pitchers of his time, Jones relieved as well as started, and his eight saves in 1922 led the league's

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

s. Jones lost a league-high 21 games in 1925. He pitched for the Browns a year later, and was waived to Washington in 1927. With the Senators, Jones regained his form, leading his team's staff with a 17–7 record. He enjoyed his last good season in 1930, ending with a 15–7 mark. After four years of service for the White Sox, Jones retired in 1935 as the oldest active player at the time (42). His 22 consecutive seasons pitching in one league is a major league record shared with Herb Pennock, Early Wynn, Red Ruffing and Steve Carlton. He was a better than average hitting pitcher in his career, compiling a .197

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(245-for-1243) with 151 runs, 6

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 101 RBI and drawing 139 bases on balls. Sad Sam Jones died in

Barnesville, Ohio Barnesville is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the central portion of Warren Township in Belmont County and is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. The population was 4,008 at the 2020 census. History The ...

, at the age of 73.

Nickname

* "Bill McGeehan of the New York Herald-Tribune dubbed him Sad Sam because, to him, Jones looked downcast on the field. Jones told Lawrence Ritter that the reason he looked downcast was because, 'I would always wear my cap down real low over my eyes. And the sportswriters were more used to fellows like Waite Hoyt, who'd always wear their caps way up so they wouldn't miss any pretty girls'." – Ed Walton, at Baseball Librar

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Sad Sam 1892 births 1966 deaths Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Major League Baseball right fielders Major League Baseball pitchers People from Woodsfield, Ohio Minor league baseball managers Zanesville Flood Sufferers players Cleveland Bearcats players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players American expatriate baseball players in Canada People from Barnesville, Ohio Baseball players from Belmont County, Ohio American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic American expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua American expatriate baseball players in Panama American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Portsmouth Cobblers players

Career

Nickname

See also

References

External links