Baseball season to remember

Editor's note: This is a continuing series of Eastern Iowa sports history 'Time Machine” articles. Mark Dukes worked at The Gazette from 1973 to 1998, the last 14 years as sports editor.

By Mark Dukes, correspondent

Jeff Jones was all but convinced the Cincinnati Reds had lost hope for him in 1982 when the club assigned him to Class A Cedar Rapids for the third straight season.

Oh, Jones loved the town. He had played collegiately just down the road at the University of Iowa, had developed many friendships and was a favorite of local fans. But it's not the best of signs to be playing a third straight year three levels removed from the major leagues.

Jones' production had been fine in two previous seasons in Cedar Rapids, making the Midwest League All-Star team in 1981. He struggled with strikeouts but still seemed to be making progress. Still, when the Reds broke camp in the spring of 1982, his ticket again was to Cedar Rapids.

'I was thinking (the Reds) had basically given up on me and I was an afterthought,” Jones said in a telephone interview. 'I knew I wasn't high on their list any more. I was playing with Eric Davis and Paul O'Neill and there were a lot of other good players five or six years younger than me in the system.”

Despite the disappointment of not receiving a promotion in 1982, a light went on with Jones and he found himself at peace as a ballplayer.

'When the Reds, in my mind, had given up on me I decided I was going to play more relaxed and play with a different attitude,” he said. 'I had gone to Iowa, felt like I was with friends in that city. I was looking at it as this might be it, so I might as well enjoy it.”

Jones said he also felt comfort in living with the Johnsons, Ed and Jean. Ed is the former football coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie and Jean is Director of Alumni Programs at Coe College. Ed's brother, Chuck, was an outstanding pitcher at Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Jones' teammate and roommate at Iowa.

With a fresh mind-set, Jones exploded in 1982 and assembled one of the most impressive individual seasons in Cedar Rapids baseball history. He smashed 42 home runs, averaged .301, drove in 101 runs, hit 26 doubles and stole 22 bases.

The 42 home runs broke the Midwest League record and still stands today. The previous record of 41 was set in 1977 by legendary 15-year minor leaguer Moe Hill of Wisconsin Rapids.

Despite hitting 263 minor league homers, Hill never made it to the major leagues. Jeff Jones did.

Before Cincinnati spring training opened in 1983, Jones got word he was invited to the major-league camp.

'I'm freaking out,'' Jones said. 'I'm thinking they got the wrong guy. I'm the guy they gave up on.”

A combination of his spring training production and injuries to other players paved the way to Jones making the rare jump from single-A to the major leagues in one year.

'I hit maybe .260 or .270 in the spring, couple homers and had some key hits,” Jones said. 'Dan Driessen got hurt and they gave me a first baseman's mitt. Cesar Cedeno also was hurt in the outfield and I think Paul Householder had mono. We get to the end and I start looking at things and I think I've got a chance to leave with this team.”

And so he did. An outfielder by trade, Jones also showed versatility to play first base. Not only had he made the major leagues, but Jones found himself in the 1983 Opening Day lineup with the likes of Johnny Bench and Dave Concepcion. He batted seventh in the lineup and played right field against Atlanta in Riverfront Stadium, going 0-for-3.

'I'm sort of in awe because it's everything you always dreamed about,” Jones said. 'In awe a little, but satisfied the time and energy I put into the game was worth it. I was extremely excited and happy.

'But I felt like I was going to be there a short time. The guys who were injured were coming back. I knew I was a bit of a rental. Looking back 30 years later, it was a business move by the Reds.”

Jones' big-league career ended after 16 games with a .227 average, three doubles and five RBIs. He had a 3-for-3 game with two walks in a 12-3 Reds win over the Giants. He spent the rest of 1983 between Double-A Waterbury and Triple-A Indianapolis. After two more seasons in the Cubs organization, Jones' career was done.

'I thought I might make it back with the Reds but if not, hopefully with someone else,” Jones said. 'I didn't truly feel done. The Reds had a lot of good young outfielders. I'd say wrong place wrong time, a little bit of that.”

Jones, 57, has lived in Buffalo, N.Y., for the past 27 years. He sells houses for customer builder Essex Homes. He crossed paths with Cedar Rapids a few years ago when his daughter, Kelly, was playing softball for St. John Fisher against Coe during a tournament in Arizona.

Jones' connection with Iowa began when he was recruited by the Hawkeyes out of Haddon Heights, N.J. Iowa Coach Duane Banks had developed a connection with a New Jersey Legion program and the pipeline produced a half-dozen future Hawkeyes.

New Jerseyans Bryan Jones, Rich Carlucci, Mark Ewell and Tony Burley all played professional ball after leaving Iowa. But only Jones, taking a rather improbable path, made the major leagues.