Former Major League Baseball closer Doug Jones has died at 64, the Cleveland Guardians announced Monday.
Jones spent parts of 16 seasons in the majors, pitching for the Orioles, Cubs, Phillies, Astros, Athletics, Brewers and Indians. He's most well known for his seven seasons with Cleveland, making three of his five All-Star appearances with the club. Jones also made the All-Star team with the Astros in 1992 and the Phillies in 1994.
Drafted in the third round out of Central Arizona College in 1978 by the Brewers, Jones debuted April 8, 1982 for Milwaukee. He only made four appearances that season and went back the minors. When he came back up with Cleveland in 1986, he was there to stay. He'd spend the next 15 seasons in the majors, mostly as a full-time reliever and a lot of the time as a primary closer.
In 846 career appearances, Jones went 69-79 with a 3.30 ERA (129 ERA+), 1.24 WHIP and 909 strikeouts in 1,128 1/3 innings. He ranks 29th in MLB history with 303 career saves. He topped out with 43 saves in 1990. He had five 30-plus save seasons and three more with at least 20.
Jones received down-ballot MVP votes in four different seasons, finishing in the top 15 twice (15th in 1988 and 14th in 1992).
As noted in the above tweet, Jones is third in Cleveland franchise history in saves, trailing only Cody Allen and Bob Wickman. During his time with the team, he earned the nickname "Mild Thing," a play off the movie, Major League where the Indians had a rockstar-like pitcher nicknamed "Wild Thing." The mustached Jones was just a no-frills and keep-quiet type.
