The
Braves first season in Atlanta (1966) after moving from Milwaukee marked the
return home of their centerfielder. Born
on November 6, 1938 in Atlanta, Mack Jones played in the outfield next to Hall
of Famer Henry Aaron during the Braves final years in Milwaukee and their first
two years in Atlanta.
A
left handed power hitter with speed to cover ground in the outfield, Jones took
a home run cut whenever he swung at a pitch.
In four seasons during his 10 year Major League career, he struck over
100 times. Jones signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1958
after they discovered him playing with a semi-professional team in
Atlanta. In his first Major League game
in 1961, he hit three singles and a double.
Jones arrived back home in Atlanta following his most productive season
with Braves, 31 home runs with 75 RBIs in 1965.
He did not repeat those power numbers in Atlanta. He hit 23 home runs with 66 RBIs in 1966 and
17 home runs with 50 RBIs in 1967.
The
Braves traded Jones to the Cincinnati Reds in 1968 and he was then selected the
next year in the expansion draft by the Montreal Expos. In the team’s home opening game on April 14,
1969, Jones hit the first Major League home run in Canada. A favorite with the Expos fans, Jones was the
team’s second leading hitter in its inaugural season with 22 home runs,
seventy-nine RBIs, and a .270 batting average.
Thinking
we had become too mature to do such a “little kid's” thing, the last year my
friends and I collected baseball cards was 1965. The picture above is Jones’ Topps baseball
card from that year. Notice that his
baseball glove is in his back pocket. We
concluded he had the smallest fielding glove we had ever seen or huge back
pockets.
Who was the African American outfielder
that split playing time with Mack Jones for the Milwaukee Braves in 1963?
No comments:
Post a Comment