Jacque Jones
From Sports Library
| Detroit Tigers — No. 11 | |
| Right field | |
| Born: April 25 1975 (age 33) | |
|---|---|
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| June 9, 1999 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2007) |
|
| Avg | .280 |
| RBI | 613 |
| HR | 164 |
| Teams | |
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Jacque Dewayne Jones (born April 25, 1975 in San Diego, California) is an American outfielder who currently plays for the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball.
Contents |
Early life
He graduated from San Diego High School and the University of Southern California, where he had a stellar career. In 1994 he was a first team all-American outfielder for the Trojans. During 1996, he was a member of the US Olympic Baseball team.
Professional career
Minnesota Twins
Jacque was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1997 amateur draft. He played three seasons in the minor leagues, and was brought up to the majors in 1999. He started off in center field, but moved to left to accommodate Torii Hunter. In 2002-2003, he batted over .300, and went to the playoffs with the Twins. The Twins outfield was one of the fastest in baseball in 2005, boasting Jones, Hunter and Shannon Stewart. With the acquisition of Stewart, Jones was moved to right field. Although Jacque was able to hit for power and averaged 20 home runs between 2000-2005, he also averaged over 100 strikeouts and was never happy in right.
Jones officially ended his relationship with the Twins by turning down arbitration on December 19, 2005. After considering a deal to play for St. Louis, he signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs just a day later [1].
Chicago Cubs
On August 15, 2006, Jones hit a home run over the center field wall against Roger Clemens at Minute Maid Park, well over 440 feet, which is an extraordinary feat. He finished the 2006 season with a .285 batting average, tied his career best with 27 home runs, but struck out 116 times.
After the 2006 season, it appeared Jones' future with Chicago was uncertain. It was rumored that he had requested a trade and a deal was in the works, but on February 17, 2007, he asked to not be traded, and that he was hoping to have a comeback year. Jones remained with the Cubs to start the 2007 season, though he was never really accepted by the fan base, partly due to his lack of production and partly due to questionable comments regarding the teams decision to fire Dusty Baker, whom Jones said he came to Chicago to play for. Baker was replaced by Lou Pinella in December 2006. Early in the 2007 season he became disgruntled with his playing time and the Cubs again sought to trade him. Trades with the San Diego Padres and Florida Marlins fell through in June 2007 because of new owner Sam Zell's unwillingess to transfer money to another team to cover Jones' remaining salaries[2].
Detroit Tigers
On November 12, 2007, Jones was traded to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Omar Infante.
References
- ↑ ESPN.com news services, Cubs agree to terms with outfielder Jacque Jones, ESPN.com, Retrieved on July 28, 2007
- ↑ Berardino, Mike, Crucial position must be Marlins' center of attention, Sun-sentinel, Retrieved on July 28, 2007
External links
Categories: 1975 births | Living people | African American baseball players | Chicago Cubs players | Major league right fielders | Minnesota Twins players | People from San Diego | Olympic competitors for the United States | Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States | University of Southern California Trojans baseball players | Major league players from California
