 |
 |
Mack F. Jones
Milwaukee Braves
Outfield
Born: November 6, 1938, Atlanta, GA
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1961-1963, 1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1967; Cincinnati Reds 1968; Montreal Expos 1969-1971
Died: June 8, 2004, Atlanta, GA (age 65)
Mack Jones spent the first three seasons of his big league career as a back-up outfielder for the Braves before getting the chance to start every day as their regular center fielder in 1965. He enjoyed a career year that season, batting .262 with 31 home runs and 75 RBIs. That was the same season the Braves set a National League record by having six players with at least 20 home runs including Jones, Hank Aaron (#170), Eddie Mathews (#500), Joe Torre (#200), Felipe Alou (#383) and Gene Oliver (#106). Jones played two more seasons with the Braves after they relocated to his hometown of Atlanta. Following a year with the Reds in 1968, Jones was selected by the Expos as the fourth overall pick in the expansion draft. He was the first left fielder in Expos team history, sharing the outfield on opening day 1969 with Don Hahn in center field and Rusty Staub (#321) in right field. Jones, Staub and third baseman Coco Laboy were the top sluggers for the Expos in their inaugural year, as Jones was second on the team in home runs (22) behind Staub. The popular Jones was released by the Expos on July 8, 1971 after a prolonged slump.
Jones collected 778 hits, 133 home runs and 415 RBIs over 1,002 career games while batting .252. Prior to his break-out season in 1965, he was loaned by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers' Triple-A team in Syracuse. With the Syracuse Chiefs in 1964, Jones had one of the best Triple-A single-season performances ever (.317, 39 home runs 102 RBIs) and his big season led to his induction into the Syracuse Wall of Fame in 2000 and posthumously into the International League Hall of Fame in 2013.
Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #319
Following our youngest son Ben's flawless performance of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy at his piano recital, our family headed to the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey to browse a real live baseball card show. Traditionally, I only venture into malls for baseball card shows and I can't honestly remember the last time, pre-pandemic, I had stepped foot into a mall. The show was small, hosted by S&B Sports Promotions, with about a dozen tables and not much vintage to offer, but it was a sight for sore eyes. It took us only about 15 minutes to scout the whole place out and I was lucky enough to find a friendly dealer with 1960s and 1970s Topps cards in great shape, in order and (best of all) reasonably priced. I took my time going through his 1965 Topps commons, settling on 29 cards we needed and adding a card from the star pile to give us 30 new cards total. I spent an even $100 (after a generous dealer discount) and this Jones card was about $2.
The Card / Braves Team Set
I love that Jones has his glove crammed into his back pocket here. With his year spent in the minors, Jones didn't receive a Topps card in 1964 and this marks his return to the flagship set after a year off. The back of the card highlights his 1964 season. Jones made his big league debut on July 13, 1961 against the Cardinals and went 4 for 5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. He led off the game with a single off future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (#320). He then doubled off Gibson in the second, and singled off reliever Bob Miller (#98) in the fourth and sixth innings.
1965 Season
In the Braves' final season in Milwaukee, Jones returned from his one-year stint in Syracuse and was the opening day left fielder for the Braves. As mentioned above, it was a career year for Jones and he shifted over to become the team's everyday center fielder in May. Jones started 109 games in center and 15 games in left field, the most games started in the outfield for the Braves other than Hank Aaron.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #186
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1962-1963, 1965-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #277
56 - Jones non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/29/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #319
Following our youngest son Ben's flawless performance of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy at his piano recital, our family headed to the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey to browse a real live baseball card show. Traditionally, I only venture into malls for baseball card shows and I can't honestly remember the last time, pre-pandemic, I had stepped foot into a mall. The show was small, hosted by S&B Sports Promotions, with about a dozen tables and not much vintage to offer, but it was a sight for sore eyes. It took us only about 15 minutes to scout the whole place out and I was lucky enough to find a friendly dealer with 1960s and 1970s Topps cards in great shape, in order and (best of all) reasonably priced. I took my time going through his 1965 Topps commons, settling on 29 cards we needed and adding a card from the star pile to give us 30 new cards total. I spent an even $100 (after a generous dealer discount) and this Jones card was about $2.
The Card / Braves Team Set
I love that Jones has his glove crammed into his back pocket here. With his year spent in the minors, Jones didn't receive a Topps card in 1964 and this marks his return to the flagship set after a year off. The back of the card highlights his 1964 season. Jones made his big league debut on July 13, 1961 against the Cardinals and went 4 for 5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. He led off the game with a single off future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (#320). He then doubled off Gibson in the second, and singled off reliever Bob Miller (#98) in the fourth and sixth innings.
1965 Season
In the Braves' final season in Milwaukee, Jones returned from his one-year stint in Syracuse and was the opening day left fielder for the Braves. As mentioned above, it was a career year for Jones and he shifted over to become the team's everyday center fielder in May. Jones started 109 games in center and 15 games in left field, the most games started in the outfield for the Braves other than Hank Aaron.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #186
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1962-1963, 1965-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #277
56 - Jones non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/29/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #240 Bob Bruce - Houston Astros
Previous Card: #240 Bob Bruce - Houston Astros
Next Card: #242 George Brunet - Los Angeles Angels
No comments:
Post a Comment