Deacon Jones (infielder)
Grover William "Deacon" Jones (born April 18, 1934) is a retired American professional baseball player, coach, manager and scout. He appeared in 40 Major League games as a first baseman and pinch hitter for the Chicago White Sox (1962–63; 1966). Jones attended Ithaca College, threw right-handed, batted left-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
| Deacon Jones | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Jones in 1976 | |||
| First baseman | |||
| Born: April 18, 1934 White Plains, New York | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 8, 1962, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 1, 1966, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .286 | ||
| Home runs | 1 | ||
| Runs batted in | 10 | ||
| Teams | |||
In his 11-year minor-league career (1955–56; 1959–67; 1969), Jones batted .319 with 154 home runs and a slugging percentage of .528. His big-league experience consisted of 60 plate appearances and he batted .286 (14 hits in 49 at bats) with one home run (hit off Jim Hannan of the Washington Senators on September 28, 1963)[1] and 10 runs batted in. A great natural hitter, Jones still holds the Midwest League record for the highest single-season batting average when he hit .409 for the Dubuque Packers in 1956. He also had 135 hits, smashed 26 homers and had a .758 slugging percentage in only 330 at bats.
After retiring as a player, Jones served as a scout and minor-league coach and manager in the White Sox organization through 1973. Jones was a coach for the Houston Astros from 1976–82, and with the San Diego Padres from 1984–87. Jones joined the Baltimore Orioles as a minor-league hitting coach and liaison with minority communities.
Jones is currently serving as the special assistant to the president for the Sugar Land Skeeters, a member of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or SABR Biography Project