Doug Jones, 1995 Stadium Club #564

 

Given everything that's been going on in my personal life lately, I hope my few regular readers are not worrying too much when I go silent for a few days. I'm doing well, as are Janet and Baby B. We have a new due date, and it's as set in stone as these sorts of things ever are. They will induce labor at 39 weeks, otherwise known as three weeks from tomorrow: Friday, June 24. Ho. Ly. Crap. I don't feel remotely ready, but we've taken the childbirth prep and infant care classes, I've read a few parenting books, the thank you cards for baby gifts have been written and sent, and the nursery is...getting there. It's been painted, and the crib and dresser are assembled. If our kiddo is content to hang around for another 22 days, he or she will share a birthday with Doug Jones. Not one of my favorite O's ever, but he had a long, solid career elsewhere. Other than the mustachioed closer, the most prominent big leaguers in the June 24 club are current Twins starter Phil Hughes, 1970s Cardinals third baseman Ken Reitz, and 1960s slugger Don Mincher. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy the Orioles' just-concluded win against the Red Sox and I'll be doing my best not to panic. Our infant care teacher said to trust our gut instincts, and she is a professional nurse. Sounds easy enough, right?

Don't answer that.

Doug Jones, 1996 Donruss #237

Off the top of my head, I can't remember seeing too many cards that feature handshakes between players. I like this one in particular. It seems like a genuine moment of congratulations and respect between battery mates. Any time that Chris Hoiles (the O's underrated and workmanlike catcher) can get a little more face time on a card, it's all good. It's pretty safe to assume that this scene took place after Doug had closed out a Baltimore victory. It would be pretty funny if Chris wandered out to the mound to talk about how to pitch to Paul Molitor and felt it necessary to formally introduce himself. "Hey, Mr. Jones, I'm Chris Hoiles and I'm your catcher today. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

I've got a little time to kill tonight, so I thought I'd try to pinpoint the game depicted in this photo. The Orioles are wearing their road grays, and the surface they're playing on is clearly AstroTurf. There have never been many American League stadiums with artificial turf, and they appear to be outdoors, which leaves Toronto's SkyDome as the only possibility. (Kansas City switched from turf to natural grass for the 1995 season.)

Surprisingly, Doug pitched in Toronto only twice in 1995: July 1-2. In the first of those two games, the O's had tacked on two runs in the ninth to take a 6-2 lead, allowing the walrus-mustached closer to pitch in a non-save siuation. He made things interesting anyway, loading the bases after getting two quick outs. After John Olerud doubled, Jones issued walks to Ed Sprague and Candy Maldonado to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of outfielder Mike Huff. A liner to second base allowed the Birds to put one in the win column.

The next day was even more exciting for the Orioles. Jays starter Woody Williams took a 7-0 lead into the eighth inning, but the O's knocked him out of the box with a two-run homer off the bat of Gregg ZAUN! But they still trailed by five runs heading into the ninth. Manny Alexander (of all people) hit a solo home run to lead off, and Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken, Jr. each singled to chase reliever Danny Cox. Ricardo Jordan retired Jeffrey Hammonds on a sac fly and struck out Kevin Bass, and the Birds were down to their last out with one runner on base and a 7-4 deficit. For some reason, Cito Gaston pulled the man who had put out the fire and sent Tim Crabtree to the mound. That's when Toronto game unglued.

Bret Barberie hit a pinch single, and he and Cal both scored when right fielder Domingo Cedeno botched pinch hitter Chris Hoiles' fly ball. Rookie outfielder Curtis Goodwin's grounder to short should have ended the game, but Domingo Cedeno made the second consecutive Blue Jay error to put the winning run on base. Brady Anderson walked, and Manny Alexander again came up big, grounding a single up the middle to give the O's an 8-7 lead. A wild pitch scored Anderson with the seventh Baltimore run of the inning (five of them unearned), and Doug Jones came into the game for an unlikely save. This time, he retired the side in order to earn his twelfth save.

There weren't many good days for Doug Jones as an Oriole. He went 0-4 with just 22 saves, and his 5.01 ERA was the second-worst of his long career. He also infamously tipped his cap and argued with a Baltimore fan after a meltdown at home against the Blue Jays (6 ER without getting a single out) turned a 10-6 lead into a 12-10 loss. But that wouldn't be appropriate to depict on a baseball card, now would it?

Doug Jones, 1996 Donruss Top of the Order

Wow. There are so many mistakes contained within this one card, I almost don't know where to begin. First of all, the card itself. What the heck is this? In the mid-Nineties, collectible card games like Magic: the Gathering were gaining a foothold and wooing collectors (and their dollars) away from baseball cards, which had entered a phase of bloated excess. Naturally, Donruss' response was to release yet another product onto the market in the form of a collectible baseball card game. They had also created a football game, Red Zone. I owned starter kits for both games, but quickly lost any interest in figuring out how to play either of them. They featured big laminated wheels with any number of confusing outcomes.

I believe that you chose your "team" based on the attributes listed at the bottom of the card. The actual plays would be chosen from the rest of the deck, however. If you were batting, you'd select a swing (green box at top right)from the cards in your hand; if you were pitching, it would be a pitch (red box at top left). You'd match the pitch and the swing to a result on the wheel, and I assume the red, yellow, and green bars on the left side of the card played some part as well and I have no idea what that may have been. If you're wondering how successful this product was, well...let's just say that there are no 1997 Top of the Order cards.

Almost as disastrous as this card game was the Orioles' brilliant decision to update the uniform in 1995. The new script on the jerseys was a minor change, and the swap of home and road colors was a positive development (the black lettering stood out more on the home whites than it had on the road grays, while the orange lettering was a good look with either uniform). The new alternate caps with orange bills added more color and were a nice nod to team history. So what was so bad, then?

The gray cap. Oh, that gray cap.

It was ugly, it was unnecessary, and though it was intended as a road cap, the team apparently played fast and loose with those rules. Veteran catcher Matt Nokes, who did nothing to help his own cause by batting .122 in limited action, fired back at the team after his release in mid-June. He said he felt as though he were "out on parole", and criticized the leadership of rookie manager Phil Regan by saying that the team didn't know which color cap they were going to wear from day to day, much less who would be playing. The O's received scorn from outside of the organization as well. I can recall one ESPN anchor joking that it appeared as if everyone on the team had shaved their heads. Thankfully, the Orioles abandoned the gray monstrosities altogether by 1997.

Walrus-mustached veteran reliever Doug Jones seemed to be a fitting choice for an entry about foul-ups in Baltimore in 1995. Coming off of a good season in Philadelphia (27 saves, 2.17 ERA), the 38-year-old Jones signed with the Orioles and became their closer, replacing the departed Lee Smith...with poor results. He saved 22 games, but allowed 1.52 baserunners per inning. His earned run average was a lofty 5.01 - when he blew up, he did so in spectacular fashion. The low point of his season was an August 1 game against Toronto. After blowing an early 4-run advantage, the O's had battled back gamely and handed Doug a 10-6 lead in the ninth inning. He faced six batters, allowing five hits and a walk and retiring NO ONE. After Domingo Cedeno's three-run home run put the Blue Jays ahead 12-10, Jones was pulled from the game and serenaded by a chorus of boos from the Camden Yards faithful. Acting with true class and grace, the pitcher flipped the bird to the crowd and disappeared into the dugout.

At least he wasn't wearing the gray cap that day.