The Career of Sam Jones

Originally published on Feb. 3, 2025

By Zane Miller

Not to be confused with Sad Sam Jones, another longtime MLB veteran, pitcher Sam Jones put together a remarkable career in Major League Baseball, particularly in the late 1950’s. However, his brief but brilliant run of dominance has become somewhat forgotten over the years, and was sadly overlooked by Hall of Fame ballot makers.

Born on December 14^th, 1925 in the small town of Stewartsville, Ohio, right on the West Virginia border, Jones did not wait long to display his athletic prowess, winning the West Virginia state championship in marble shooting at just 12 years old. Later on, Jones began his career in team sports by playing both football and basketball at West Virginia’s Fairmont High School, though he left school at the age of 16. It’s unclear what other sports, if any, Jones participated in throughout the early 1940’s, but it is believed that Jones did not play baseball at all until he began serving in the military in 1943. By this time, the United States was fully involved in World War II, causing Jones to enlist in the Army. Sadly, like many other African-American servicemen at the time, Jones was met with segregation as he arrived at the Orlando Army Air Base in Orlando, Florida. Banned from playing on the post’s baseball team, Jones instead joined a team started by one of the base’s smaller units, where he got his first taste of experience on the diamond as a catcher and first baseman.

After the war, Jones decided to resume his baseball career, despite still facing segregation which would bar him from participating in the MLB until after the integration era began. As a result, Jones began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in 1946, playing for the West Coast Negro Baseball Association’s Oakland Larks. Despite serving primarily as a position player during his time in the Army, Jones became a pitcher for the Larks. Unfortunately, Jones’ statistics for the 1946 season are unavailable, likely due to the league folding just a couple months after being founded. Nonetheless, Jones took his pitching experience back with him across the country, joining the Negro American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes for the 1947 season.

Still quite new to the mound, Jones waded his way into the Buckeyes’ rotation, taking a personal win-loss record of 4-2. Despite the scarce playing time, Jones remained on the postseason roster as Cleveland scored a league-best 57-19 record to reach what would be the penultimate Negro World Series. Facing the New York Cubans of the Negro National League, the Buckeyes took a 1-0 series lead going into game three (the first game was declared a tie due to rain). Cleveland pitcher Eugene Smith went seven and two-thirds shutout innings, though the Cubans’ Barney Morris was also keeping the Buckeyes off the board. Jones came on in relief after Smith put runners on first and second, but easily got out of the eighth-inning jam. The same could not be said for the top of the ninth, however, as Jones faltered with four earned runs allowed on four hits and a walk before being pulled after getting only one more out. Jones was not used again for the rest of the series as the Cubans eventually won the game 6-0, before winning the series four games to one with one tie.

Jones made more appearances for the Buckeyes in 1948, claiming nine wins in total, but the Buckeyes would be unable to make it back to the postseason after posting a 48-54 record. After the team relocated to Louisville for the 1949 season, Jones opted not to remain with the Buckeyes (yes, they were still called the Buckeyes despite no longer being in Ohio). Instead, he resumed his whirlwind trip around North America by signing with a team out of Colon, Panama, named the Spur Cola Colonites.

Playing in the Panamanian Professional Baseball League, Jones truly began to show his potential with the increase in playing time. Although specific stats are unavailable, Jones reportedly played a major role in the Colonites’ late season push to overtake the Carta Vieja Yankees and Chesterfield Smokers to win the league title and represent Panama in the inaugural Caribbean Series.

Unlike most championship-deciding postseason formats, the Caribbean Series was played between four teams instead of two, with each team playing six games. Although Jones was the losing pitcher in Panama’s second game, he would redeem himself in the second-to-last game of the series by earning a 3-2 victory against Cerveceria Caracas (representing Venezuela). The tournament ended with Panama in third place, while Cuba’s Alacranes del Almendares won the championship.

Since the Caribbean Series was over before March, Jones returned to the United States in search of another team to ply his talents. He eventually settled on a semi-pro team in the Rochester (Minnesota) Royals just before the start of summer, where this would prove to be his big break.

Throughout the summer of 1949, Jones would show a preview of his future MLB excellence, reportedly winning 24 games in a span of only two months, including two no-hitters. This caught the eye of scouts for the MLB’s Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), as Jones had already been on their radar. In 1948, Jones attempted an unsuccessful tryout for the Indians, but still performed well enough for the team to continue keeping tabs on the young pitcher. Prior to the 1950 season, it was time for general manager and eventual Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg to offer Jones a contract.

After signing with the Indians, Jones began his tenure with the organization at the then-Class A Eastern League level, pitching for the Wilkes-Barre Indians. There, Jones became the squad’s ace starting pitcher, capturing 17 wins with 169 strikeouts in 219 innings pitched, pacing the team in all three categories for an ERA of 2.71. This effort propelled Wilkes-Barre to a dominating 90-48 record, easily allowing them to reach the postseason. The opening round saw them dispose of the Hartford Chiefs in six games, before taking down the Binghamton Triplets in five games in the Eastern League Finals. Just like that, Jones had the first championship of his minor league career and the Indians organization had its second title at the Class A level.

Having proved himself after leading the league in strikeouts, Jones skipped over the AA level entirely in favor of the Class AAA San Diego Padres (no connection to the modern-day Padres) for 1951. Although the Padres did not see the same success as the Wilkes-Barre Indians, finishing with a record of 79-88, Jones again showed himself to be a valuable asset. In a Pacific Coast League-high 267 innings pitched, he scored 16 wins and an ERA of 2.76 with an astounding 246 strikeouts. This led the AAA class by a long shot, as Kansas City Blues pitcher Bob Wiesler was the next closest at 162 strikeouts. Thanks to his outstanding performance, Jones officially made his return to Cleveland, making his MLB debut with a pair of late September games to become the fourth African-American pitcher in MLB history. After first taking the mound in a relief appearance, he would get his first career start on September 30^th against the Detroit Tigers. Although Jones ultimately took the loss, it was regardless a superb first impression with just two earned runs allowed over eight innings of work.

With the Indians switching AAA affiliates for the 1952 campaign, Jones would trade sunny southern California for the banks of the White River as he joined the Indianapolis Indians. Unfortunately for Jones, he would see only limited action this season due to a shoulder injury, going just 35 innings with Indianapolis and 36 for Cleveland. However, the injury-shortened year did see Jones score his first career MLB win on May 4^th against the Boston Red Sox, pitching two innings of relief with five strikeouts.

Ready to start fresh in 1953, Jones spent the entire season in Indy and returned to form with a 3.32 ERA over 187 innings pitched, claiming 10 wins and 118 strikeouts in the process. The Indians ended the season with a record of 82-72 which was good enough to reach the playoffs, but would fall in the first round to the Kansas City Blues in six games. Jones remained in the AAA ranks for the 1954 season as well, posting a similar workload of 199 innings pitched. While his ERA total took somewhat of a hit as it went up to 3.75, Jones captured 178 strikeouts and 15 wins in a significant improvement over his 1953 season. As the MLB’s Indians went to their third World Series in franchise history, the AAA Indians were no slouches either as they nabbed a league-leading 95-57 record. Indianapolis defeated the Minneapolis Millers in the first round four games to two, but met their match in the finals as the Louisville Colonels won the series in five games.

Despite their on-field success, Cleveland had a conundrum on their hands when it came to Jones. While he was good enough to play at the MLB level, the Indians’ pitching rotation was already the best in the business, having allowed the fewest number of runs at just 504 compared to the league average of 677. As a result, Jones was traded to the Chicago Cubs with teammate Gale Wade for future Hall of Fame left fielder Ralph Kiner in what would be Kiner’s final season before retirement. Once the 1955 season started, Jones wasted little time in making the trade pay dividends for the Cubs.

As the Cubs’ pitching staff had been one of the MLB’s worst throughout 1954, Jones was placed on the big club’s opening day roster for the first time in his career. He would even be credited with the win after entering in relief in the Cincinnati Redlegs’ (now Cincinnati Reds) Opening Day game, which the Cubs won 7-5. Afterwards, though, the first month of Jones’ 1955 campaign got off to a rocky start as a slew of underwhelming performances caused his ERA to balloon to 5.08 going into his May 12^th start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, in this Thursday afternoon matchup at Wrigley Field, Jones would get on the right track and then some.

Chicago took the lead with a run in each of the first two innings, allowing Jones to pit his undivided attention towards shutting out the Pirates. However, this endeavor was not necessarily smooth sailing as he gave up four walks over the first eight innings, three of which being awarded to first baseman Dale Long. As the top of the ninth inning got underway, Jones and the Cubs held a 4-0 lead with the no-hit bid still in play. Unfortunately for Jones, the situation began to get out of control immediately with Pittsburgh working three consecutive walks to load the bases with nobody out. Further compounding the issue, the heart of the order was coming up to bat, prompting manager Stan Hack to make a visit to the mound. Whether Hack’s intention was to pull Jones from the game or simply try to get him refocused, longtime Cubs catcher Clyde McCullough informed him, in no uncertain terms, that Jones would not be exiting the game, to which Hack obliged.

Perhaps reinvigorated by his catcher’s confidence in him, Jones regained his control with a strikeout of Dick Groat. Up next was a talented rookie named Roberto Clemente, who was just beginning what would become a Hall of Fame career. On this occasion, however, Clemente would come up empty, striking out swinging to leave MVP hopeful Frank Thomas as Pittsburgh’s last hope. Knowing that any kind of contact could not only break up the no-hitter and shutout, but also open the door for the Pirates to make a comeback, Jones fed Thomas curveball after curveball during the at-bat. In the end, Thomas watched as a curve made its way over the plate for a punchout, sealing Jones’ no-hitter with six strikeouts and seven walks. While it wasn’t the most picturesque no-hitter ever pitched, it was enough to grant Jones the distinction of being the first African-American pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

The rest of 1955 saw Jones continue recovering from the slow start, as he finished the year with 14 wins and 241.2 innings pitched for an ERA of 4.10. Interestingly, Jones picked up a National League-leading 198 strikeouts while also walking the most batters in MLB that season with 185.

1956 played out a lot like 1955 for Sam Jones, who had garnered the nickname “Toothpick” due to his preference for chewing toothpicks instead of tobacco during games. Though his number of innings pitched dropped to 188.2, he still posted a 3.91 ERA for nine wins. Later on in baseball history, the term “effectively wild” would be coined, and Jones continued a pattern of being the dictionary definition of that term as he again led the NL in walks with 115 and strikeouts with 176. However, the Cubs, who were still searching for their first winning record in a decade after going 72-81 in 1955, ended 1956 with an even more disappointing 60-94 record.

In the offseason, Jones was traded for the second time in his career, this time being dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a massive nine-player trade. None of the four players going the other way played more than two full seasons after the trade. Jones pitched practically the same number of innings in 1957 as the year before, going 182.2 frames while improving to a 3.60 ERA and 12 wins. His 154 strikeouts also put him eighth in MLB, while his 71 walks allowed was a significant improvement. Despite a respectable 87-67 record, St. Louis finished runner-up to the Milwaukee (now Atlanta) Braves in the NL standings, thus missing out on playing in the World Series which the Braves went on to win. While 1957 was overall a promising sign for the Cardinals starter, Jones would truly begin to hit his peak in 1958.

For the first time in his career, Jones made it to the 250-inning mark by pitching exactly that number, while also shaving his ERA total down to just 2.88 on the season. Among the six pitchers with at least 250 innings pitched in 1958, Jones had the best ERA out of all of them, narrowly beating out the 2.91 mark set by Milwaukee’s Lew Burdette. While there are several contenders for Jones’ best game of the season, my vote would go to his May 16^th tilt against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which he outdueled the similarly underrated Johnny Podres for a complete game shutout, claiming nine strikeouts in the process. The season wrapped up with Jones leading the league in both walks and strikeouts for the third time in his career, with his career-high 225 K’s setting a then-franchise record for the Cardinals. However, St. Louis was unable to take advantage as they finished with an uninspiring 72-82 record, though Jones collected 14 of those wins.

One team that took notice of Jones’ excellent season was the recently relocated San Francisco Giants, who were attempting to bolster what had been a subpar pitching staff during their inaugural season in the Bay Area. During Spring Training and just two weeks before the start of the regular season, Jones was traded for a third time. He, along with minor league pitcher Don Choate, were sent to the Giants in exchange for third baseman Ray Jablonski and first baseman Bill White. Neither Choate nor Jablonski found success with their respective teams after the deal, as Choate only ever played four games at the MLB level while Jablonski lasted less than half a season before being flipped to the Kansas City (now Sacramento) Athletics. However, White would turn out to be a valuable addition to the Cardinals, winning six Gold Glove awards as the starting first baseman and helping lead the team to the 1964 World Series title. While Jones didn’t last in San Francisco for that long, he would still provide the San Fran fans with a glorious effort in 1959.

In a season which saw him cross the 20-win barrier for the first and only time in his career with 21, Jones struck out 209 batters over the course of a career-high 270.2 innings pitched to lower his ERA from the previous year even further. His 2.83 ERA was once again the best of the now eight pitchers with at least 250 innings pitched, with Braves great Warren Spahn being the next closest at 2.96. Jones is officially credited with four complete game shutouts during this season, but this does not include his rain-shortened no-hitter against his former team. On September 26^th, with the Giants in St. Louis, Jones was holding the Cardinals hitless with a pair of walks and five strikeouts when the rains fell in the top of the eighth inning. Busch Stadium was then blasted by winds of up to 50 miles per hour, forcing the umpires to call the game early as a 4-0 Giants win. You be the judge of whether or not this should count as an official no-hitter, but it was an outstanding showing by Jones regardless. As for his greatest nine-inning game of the season, I would give that to his June 30^th matchup against the Dodgers. In that one, Jones picked up 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit and a pair of walks in a complete game shutout, getting a 2-0 win over future Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale.

Under the current rules instituted in 1967, Jones would have won the NL Cy Young Award in 1959. However, at the time the award was only given to one pitcher for all of MLB instead of one per league, and he was beaten out by 39-year-old ace Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox with a terrific season in his own right, though his innings pitched, ERA and strikeout totals were all slightly behind that of Jones. In any case, the Giants put together a very good record of 83-71, but it was not enough to unseat the 88-win Dodgers for the NL title.

In 1960, the Giants left their temporary home of Seals Stadium for their more permanent abode of Candlestick Park, which had just completed construction. Unsurprisingly, Jones was named the opening day starter to become the first Giants pitcher to take the mound at the brand new facility and did not disappoint, going the full nine innings while allowing just one earned run on a walk and three hits for a 3-1 win over the Cardinals. In his next start on April 16^th against the Cubs, Jones struck out third baseman Don Zimmer in the eighth inning for the 1,000^th strikeout of his career, in a game he would also win after pitching all nine innings with just one earned run allowed.

While not quite reaching the same heights as the previous two seasons, Jones remained a formidable opponent with a team-high 18 wins and 190 strikeouts, pitching 234 innings of work along the way for an ERA of 3.19 as the Giants grabbed their third straight winning record at 79-75. However, San Francisco was well out of contention for the World Series spot and, as it would turn out, this would be the final season for Jones as a full-time starter.

In 1961, the now 35-year-old Jones had a difficult first two months of the year, having an uncharacteristic 4.80 ERA by mid-June. This prompted manager Alvin Dark to move Jones to the bullpen, but this did little to curb his slide as Jones finished the tumultuous 1961 campaign with just eight wins, 105 strikeouts and 128.1 innings pitched with a 4.49 ERA. Despite Jones’ lack of production, the Giants improved significantly overall as they claimed an 85-69 record, though this was still six games short of the Reds for the NL crown.

A year earlier, it was announced that a new team named the Houston Colt .45s (now Houston Astros) would be joining the MLB, leading to an expansion draft being created to give the Colt .45s the opportunity to select unprotected players from other teams in time for their 1962 debut. After the poor showing the previous season and the emergence of young starters Mike McCormick and Juan Marichal, Jones was left unprotected and promptly scooped up by the Colt .45s. However, Jones would never actually play for Houston, as less than two months after the expansion draft, he was traded for the fourth and final time to the team he made his MLB debut against in the Tigers.

As Jones was preparing for a bounce back season with Detroit in spring training, he received the disheartening news that he had been diagnosed with neck cancer. Thankfully, the cancer was operable, and he would not have to miss much playing time as a result. However, he would need to undergo surgery and required treatments throughout the year.

Jones did not crack the starting rotation out of spring training and would primarily be used out of the bullpen throughout 1962. That being said, he was the best reliever on the team with the exception of closer Terry Fox. Jones collected a pair of wins, the latter of which was his 100^th career win on August 14^th against the Baltimore Orioles, while going 81.1 innings for a 3.65 ERA and being credited with 73 strikeouts. In addition, while his career batting stats were nothing to write home about as is the case with most pitchers, his April 26^th game against the Athletics saw Jones get his first and only career home run. After starter Frank Lary was pulled after giving up five runs in less than two innings, Jones was put in and took Lary’s place in the batting order (this was before the designated hitter rule was implemented by the American League). In the bottom of the second, Jones hit a solo shot to deep left field to cut Kansas City’s lead to 5-4, in a game which the Tigers came back to win 11-7. The team finished with a record of 85-76, but could not keep up with the juggernaut New York Yankees for the AL title.

Though his cancer now in remission, Jones was forced to battle through yet another setback. Late in the 1962 season, Jones hurt his leg in a car accident and was not retained by the Tigers for 1963 due to the uncertainty surrounding his playing status. Still looking to reinvigorate his career, Jones signed a minor league deal with the Braves organization and started the year at AAA with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He appeared in 22 games up north to continue his tendency of playing for teams spanning all across the North American continent, before returning to a familiar franchise mid-season. Jones was acquired by the Cardinals for his second stint in the organization, this time playing in 21 games with the AAA Atlanta Crackers before being called up to the big league club in August. Funnily enough, the Crackers and Maple Leafs would go on to play each other in the second round of the playoffs that season, ending with Toronto being swept in four games (Atlanta was then defeated in the next round by Indianapolis).

Jones struggled in his return to the majors, pitching just 11 innings out of the bullpen with an ugly 9.00 ERA, adding two wins and eight strikeouts in his limited appearances. The Cardinals still posted a strong 93-69 record, but would need to wait one more year to reach the World Series. Unfortunately for Jones, he would not be able to stay in St. Louis for the championship run.

By 1964, it was clear that Jones was in the twilight of his career, but the now 38-year-old wasn’t ready to retire just yet. He took on a minor league contract with the Pirates organization, pitching 82 innings in relief with the AAA Columbus Jets. Back in Ohio for the first time in over a decade, Jones impressed with seven wins and 89 strikeouts, nabbing an ERA of 1.76 along the way. Late in the season, he was granted one more shot at the MLB level with a team looking for a veteran to mentor a young, up-and-coming pitching staff. This team was the Orioles, who had been stringing together winning records to start the 1960s after years of futility marked their first handful of seasons in Baltimore.

In what would be his final MLB season, Jones pitched 10.1 innings with six strikeouts and an ERA of 2.61, while the Orioles pitching staff as a whole was one of the best leaguewide. The team nearly made its first World Series appearance since 1944 when they were playing as the St. Louis Browns, but were not quite there yet as they ended up two games behind the Yankees, who won the American League for the fifth consecutive season. Jones was released after the season, concluding his MLB career with 102 wins, 1643.1 innings pitched, 1,376 strikeouts, 10 saves and a career 3.59 ERA, along with a no-hitter and a no-hitter with an asterisk.

Despite never again being tapped for another go at the major league level, Jones returned to the Pirates organization to rejoin Columbus for the 1965 season. He carried on in the same relief role that he had been slotted into for the past few seasons, claiming 12 wins and 65 strikeouts over the course of 77 innings pitched for a 3.04 ERA. The Jets went 85-61 on the season to make the playoffs, then defeated the Syracuse Chiefs four games to two to become the first Pirates-affiliated AAA team to reach the finals since 1949. However, the team was unable to get the job done against the Maple Leafs, who won the series four games to one. During the offseason, Jones was involved in yet another serious car accident, suffering unspecified internal injuries as a result. Just like the previous accident though, Jones did not miss any significant time in 1966 as he went 64 innings with seven wins, 62 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA. The Jets went 82-65 to qualify for the playoffs, but were again eliminated by Toronto, this time in the first round.

Jones’ age-41 season in 1967 saw him remain a reliable bullpen option for the Jets, as he went 66 innings while taking seven wins, though his strikeout numbers and ERA declined to 50 and 3.95 respectively. For the third season in a row, the Jets were in the playoffs despite an underwhelming 69-71 record. Regardless, the team toppled the Rochester Red Wings three games to one in the opening round, providing Jones the chance to win his first minor league championship in 17 years. However, the Toledo Mud Hens were not going to be denied, as they won the matchup of the Ohio teams in the finals four games to one.

With a slew of young pitchers coming through the pipeline for the Pirates, Jones was released after the 1967 season. While it’s unclear if he was unable to find another team to play for or if he simply decided to retire, Jones did not play in organized baseball again, bringing an official end to a playing career spanning over 20 years. Of course, he never left baseball behind entirely, as he came back to the Cardinals organization for a third time, this time as a member of the scouting department. He nearly claimed a World Series ring in the position, as the Cardinals won the NL championship in 1968, but were thwarted by the Tigers in a World Series which went all seven games. Tragically, Jones’ neck cancer returned in 1971, and he would pass away from the disease on November 5^th of that year at the far too young age of 45.

Despite having two of the most exceptional back-to-back pitching seasons in MLB history, Jones was left off the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in what would have been his first year of eligibility in 1970. I should note before getting too far that he would not have gotten into the Hall of Fame anyway in all likelihood, due to him only having 102 career wins when it’s nearly impossible for a starting pitcher to be inducted with less than 200 wins, the high amount of walks he accumulated and never making a postseason appearance. That being said, being a part of the ballot is an honor in and of itself, and Jones absolutely should have been included.

Among other starting pitchers that were on the ballot in 1970, he had similar career numbers to longtime Athletics pitcher Bobby Shantz, who had 119 wins and a career ERA of 3.38 in 1935.2 innings pitched, while Jones also had over 300 more strikeouts. Reds ace Johnny Vander Meer was on the ballot with 119 career wins as well, along with a 3.44 ERA in 2104.2 innings as Jones also had a higher strikeout total (though Vander Meer’s case is enhanced by his 1940 World Series win). Jones’ career stats also resembled those of Brooklyn Dodgers greats Carl Erskine and Preacher Roe (both fell short of the 1,000-strikeout mark), while having largely better totals than 1952 World Series champion Ewell Blackwell, who was also listed on the ballot with 82 career wins, 839 strikeouts and a 3.30 ERA in 1321 innings of work. Again, this isn’t to say that Jones was robbed of a spot in Cooperstown, but in my opinion he was unfairly left off the ballot itself. Nevertheless, Sam Jones was certainly one of the best "effectively wild" pitchers to ever take the mound.