Jacque Jones Career Tracker

Dammit, another gap! Table below...

EDIT: Gap removed! Table's still here!

	Games	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	SLG
2007	135	.285	5	66	6	.400
Career	1260	.280	164	623	82	.455

Boy, they update these things fast!

Jacque Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Jacque Jones Detroit Tigers — No. 11
Right field
Born: April 25, 1975 (1975-04-25) (age 32)
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
June 9, 1999 for the Minnesota Twins
Selected MLB statistics
(through September 11, 2007)
Avg .279
RBI 613
HR 164

Teams

• Minnesota Twins (1999–2005)
  
• Chicago Cubs (2006-2007)
  
• Detroit Tigers (2008-present)

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].

According to reports, manager Lou Pinella is not giving up on Jones and plans to use him in an almost permanent basis. When asked about the trade rumors, Jones said, ""Now I take it day by day," Jones said. "Whatever comes with the day, I accept it."

On November 12, 2007, Jones was traded to the Detroit Tigers.

[3]

Here's what he looks like!:

Hmmmm. I don't know. I'm glad to have infante gone! I can say that much... Until I actually see Jacque Jones play I can't determine whether I like him or not...

tigersgirl wrote:

Hmmmm. I don't know. I'm glad to have infante gone! I can say that much... Until I actually see Jacque Jones play I can't determine whether I like him or not...

Well considering he got no respect in Detroit hopefully Infante will see some playing time in Chicago. As for jacque jones it doesn't seem to me we needed another outfielder unless, they are trying to move someone toward a DH position in the case of Sheffield not recovering. Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

tigersgirl wrote:

Hmmmm. I don't know. I'm glad to have infante gone! I can say that much... Until I actually see Jacque Jones play I can't determine whether I like him or not...

Well considering he got no respect in Detroit hopefully Infante will see some playing time in Chicago.

I didn't mean to be disrespectful.. I just didn't like him.

tigersgirl wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

tigersgirl wrote:

Hmmmm. I don't know. I'm glad to have infante gone! I can say that much... Until I actually see Jacque Jones play I can't determine whether I like him or not...

Well considering he got no respect in Detroit hopefully Infante will see some playing time in Chicago.

I didn't mean to be disrespectful.. I just didn't like him.

Apparently neither did Jim Leyland , thats who I thought he got no respect from Chica.

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

tigersgirl wrote:

Hmmmm. I don't know. I'm glad to have infante gone! I can say that much... Until I actually see Jacque Jones play I can't determine whether I like him or not...

Well considering he got no respect in Detroit hopefully Infante will see some playing time in Chicago. As for jacque jones it doesn't seem to me we needed another outfielder unless, they are trying to move someone toward a DH position in the case of Sheffield not recovering. Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

Jacque and Raburn and/or Thames will platoon in LF. He hits left-handed which we need. Good move for us!

Jacque!

Welcome to Detroit Jacque! Welcome to the .

Please introduce yourself in the introduction thread

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

Cheers. I didn't know he was a left handed batter at first so that's a good thing

GO JONES!

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

Cheers. I didn't know he was a left handed batter at first so that's a good thing

Yeah, but I still hate trades...

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

yeah riiiight!!
Alcohol is what's making YOU drink!!

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

Doesn't everything make you drink?

catbox_9 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

Doesn't everything make you drink?

:haha:

tigersaint wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

yeah riiiight!!
Alcohol is what's making YOU drink!!

YOU make me drink

Yeah, the gap is romoved here too! And it only took one edit this time!!!

SoulRat wrote:

tigersaint wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

tigerswinloseordraw wrote:

Somebody let me know when this rides over. For now I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight

I hear ya win... I'm not liking all this trading going on... at all... it's making me drink

yeah riiiight!!
Alcohol is what's making YOU drink!!

YOU make me drink

My sentiments exactly.....

SoulRat wrote:

Well, not "ashamed", just blushing!!

Did you get your Turkey? I got mine!!

2007'S TOP TIGERS STORIES: The inside story of new Tiger Jacque Jones

December 26, 2007

BY JON PAUL MOROSI
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

For years, they lived in different California cities -- Hardy Jones in Sacramento, Jacque Jones in San Diego -- and spent little time together.

Their bond strengthened around the time of Jacque's high school graduation. They grew closer as Jacque established himself as an outfielder with the Minnesota Twins. Over the years, father and son eagerly awaited the reunions that came when the Twins visited Oakland.

Before the 2004 season, Hardy told Jacque about the pain he felt in his back and lower legs. They talked on the telephone as often as three times each week, and Hardy always said he was feeling well.

Jacque did not know, at the time, that his father was in a wheelchair -- and dying of cancer.

The two spoke on Sept. 30, 2004, before the Twins' series finale that night in New York. By the time Jacque landed in Minnesota, following a 6-4 loss, he had several messages on his phone. Hardy was gone.

Jacque's excitement about the American League playoffs -- which began in New York five days later -- somersaulted into grief. He traveled to California to mourn with his family.

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire was unsure whether Jones would start in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. But Jones arrived in New York on Tuesday morning -- tired, jetlagged, yet ready to play. Gardenhire wrote his name on the lineup card, batting second and playing rightfield.

"I needed them, and they needed me," Jones recalled, in a telephone interview last week. "The Twins' organization was awesome. ... I wanted to do something special for them. And I wanted to do something special for (my dad)."

Gardenhire later said Jones' teammates expected him to do something special in that game. He did. With one out in the sixth inning, Jones sent Mike Mussina's 0-1 pitch into the leftfield stands. He thrust a fist into the air as he rounded first and pointed skyward once he arrived at home.

"I know he's excited," Jones said that night when asked about his father. "He's watching over me, like he always has."

Jones' homer accounted for the final run in the Twins' 2-0 victory. Minnesota lost Game 2 before Jones flew to California to attend Hardy's funeral. He was back in the starting lineup for Game 3 in Minnesota. He even hit another home run. But the Twins lost that game and the game after that. Their season was over.

Jones, who batted .300 in the series, returned home, mentally and physically spent.

Baseball had spun his emotions around -- and not for the final time.


Will he fit right in left?

Jacque Jones is a Tiger now. He will be Detroit's primary leftfielder in 2008, after a trade with the Chicago Cubs this month.

Jones, 32, is entering the final season of a three-year, $16-million contract. He signed the deal before the 2006 season, when the Cubs viewed him as the long-term successor to Sammy Sosa in rightfield. Sosa was beloved by fans at Wrigley Field. Jones, from the beginning of his first season, was not.

In April, he batted .228 and was booed at Wrigley. In May, a ball thrown by an inebriated fan nearly hit him in the head.

In August, Jones told USA Today that he had received a threatening phone call in which the caller used a racial slur.

By the end of the 2006 season, though, his production was up: He batted .285 with 27 home runs and 81 RBIs. But Jones' future in Chicago became cloudy this year. An overabundance of outfielders meant that six players appeared in 10 or more games in rightfield. Jones, in fact, played more in center (84) than right (67).

Jones' greatest complications, though, came from another slow start. He batted .205 in May and .176 in June. He was hitting .234 on June 26, when he heard media reports that the Cubs had agreed to trade him to the Florida Marlins.

By mid-afternoon, Jones accepted the apparent reality that he had been traded. Reporters and clubhouse workers wished him luck. Teammate after teammate came to his locker.

"I was pretty much ready to get my things together when I heard the deal fell through," Jones said. "I had to take back all my good-byes."

The Cubs were lucky to keep him. From that day until the end of the regular season, Jones batted .325 with three home runs and 46 RBIs in 72 games.

Chicago had a losing record (37-39) on the day of Jones' near trade. The Cubs were 7 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. But then Chicago sprinted to a 48-38 finish and eclipsed the Brewers to claim the division title.

With that, Jones returned to the postseason for the first time since the year of his father's death.

"We went to the playoffs, and I feel like I was a big part of that," Jones said. "It's funny, because (some fans) there said, 'Get him out of here. Trade him. Get rid of him. We don't need him. We don't want him.'"

Jones batted .222 in the National League Division Series, as Chicago was swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A little more than one month after the Cubs were eliminated, they traded Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante, ending a tenure that was more endured than enjoyed.

"When you're miserable somewhere, you're not going to perform like you can," said veteran reliever Eddie Guardado, a close friend of Jones and former Minnesota teammate. "It just wasn't him. That atmosphere wasn't him. I'm just glad he's out."

The Leyland factor

Jones has had triumphant moments in his nine-year big-league career. Lasting success, though, has always eluded him.

He has had three 20-homer, 80-RBI seasons. But he has never made an All-Star team. He has played in 21 postseason games. But he has never reached the World Series.

Jones has played uphill since the very start. He went 2-for-3 in his first professional game -- before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Guardado calls him a survivor, and Jones has done plenty to earn that distinction. But will Detroit be the place where he finds fulfillment?

When asked to describe his vision of the perfect city for a baseball player, Jones said, "I don't know that there is a perfect atmosphere. I just think you go out and do your job.

You play the game the way it's supposed to be played. If you do that, most baseball fans will recognize that and appreciate it.

"If you go out there and bust your tail," Jones added, "people are drawn to you."

Jones has a good idea of what to expect in Detroit. He played 47 games at Comerica Park as a member of the Twins -- with a .287 batting average. He has long admired Jeremy Bonderman. He has watched Curtis Granderson blossom. He has marveled at Magglio Ordonez and his magnificent swing.

And he has been told that he will love playing for Jim Leyland.

"That's the consensus," Jones said.

Leyland is renowned for his ability to work with players and boost their confidence when needed. That skill should prove particularly useful with Jones, who has been hard on himself during his career.

"No one's more critical or harder on me than I am, but I've learned to get a grasp on it," Jones said. "Now, I can accept not being perfect. Nobody's perfect."

Dan Gladden, the former Tigers outfielder and current Twins analyst, said he noticed that Jones put too much pressure on himself at times in his career.

For that reason, Gladden said, Leyland could be an ideal manager for him.

"He should be able to do well there," Gladden said when asked about Jones during a telephone interview last week. "Leyland is one of those guys who can take pressure off a player and absorb it himself."

Soon, Jones will learn if Detroit is the place where an October triumph will displace the memories of difficult autumns past.

"People say everything happens for a reason," Jones said. "There's a reason why I was brought there -- but nobody knows it yet."

Quote :

Jones has a good idea of what to expect in
Detroit. He played 47 games at Comerica Park as a member of the Twins
-- with a .287 batting average. He has long admired Jeremy Bonderman.
He has watched Curtis Granderson blossom. He has marveled at Magglio
Ordonez and his magnificent swing.

He has good taste in players with Granderson and Maggs!

Must have IE...

Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tigers: Notebook
Leyland praises Jones, sees triple threat
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Make way for more triples but from someone who's hit only three the last two years.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland has been impressed so far at spring training with outfielder Jacque Jones, who'll share left field with Marcus Thames.

Jones was acquired during the offseason from the Chicago Cubs for infielder Omar Infante, and is coming off a season in which he hit .233 in the first half, but .332 in the second.

"The hits that weren't falling in suddenly were," Jones said earlier this spring. "I wasn't doing anything differently."

Although he's hit 27 home runs in a season twice, including as recently as two years ago, Jones looks like more of a gap hitter to the Tigers. But you know what can happen to hitters who find the gaps at Comerica Park.

The ball rolls forever, allowing a runner to run forever.

Leyland isn't thinking Jones, who'll be 33 in April, will come close to equaling the 23 triples Curtis Granderson hit last year, but the manager believes Jones will definitely hit more three-baggers than he did the last two years for the Cubs.

"He hit a lot of doubles (31 in 2006 and 33 in 2007), but he played at Wrigley Field," said Leyland. "Some of the doubles he hit there will become triples in our ballpark."

In any event, Leyland likes what he sees so far.

"I think Jacque Jones is going to have a big year for us," Leyland said Friday. "He's quietly going to be a tremendous addition. I like what I've seen so far. I think he's going to hit some triples.

"If he takes off from the first step on some of the balls I've already seen him hit in batting practice, I've already told him, 'You're going to get some triples.'

"I didn't know him. I thought he was a skinny guy, but he's strong. I know we haven't played a game yet, but I like him. I think he's going to be a huge help."

02/23/2008 4:50 PM ET
Jones doesn't mind lack of attention
Outfielder nearly a forgotten man in Detroit's potent lineup
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Jacque Jones can sit at his locker, look over to his right and chuckle. In fact, he sometimes does.

On that side of the clubhouse, along the wall near manager Jim Leyland's office, stands one of the intimidating rows of lockers in all of Spring Training: Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen.

Jones sees that row when he comes in each morning. Never, when he was a Minnesota Twin in the early part of this decade, could he have imagined seeing that row with Detroit.

"I laugh every day when I see those guys over there," Jones said. "It's like an All-Star convention."

Jones' locker is a few feet away, next to Curtis Granderson on the other side of the corner. He can sit and watch all the reporters gather around Detroit's version of Murderer's Row.

Few reporters have gathered near his. All in all, he has had a very quiet Spring Training. That's fine with him.

"Perfect," he said. "I just like going out and playing. That's it."

After all the offseason moves the Tigers made, he has become almost a forgotten man. That's understandable given some of the players dealt to Detroit, a couple of which are on that row.

The one person who doesn't seem to be overlooking him is his manager. More than simply a left-handed bat to add to a heavily right-handed lineup, in fact, Leyland is expecting big things from him after watching him thus far.

"I really like him," Leyland said Friday. "He's got a good look on his face. I know we haven't played a game yet, but I think he could be a huge addition for this team."

That's not the case of a manager trying to prop up a player in camp. At this point in his career, and after the 2007 season that he had, Jones doesn't need a confidence boost.

It wasn't long ago that Jones was hard to miss. His averages of better than 23 home runs and 77 RBIs per season from 2002-06 made him one of the more quietly effective left-handed run producers in the game, not to mention a key member of Minnesota's run of three straight American League Central titles. Only Aramis Ramirez had more homers and RBIs on the last-place 2006 Cubs.

Last year, however, might as well have been two different seasons for him, split right around the All-Star break. He went into the Fourth of July with a .227 average, .607 OPS, a 6-for-42 skid, a regular round of boos from Chicago fans and essentially a part-time role in a crowded outfield for a Cubs team that had to rally to get over .500 by the All-Star break and had supposedly put Jones on the trading block.

At no point, he said, did it wear him down.

"Never, never. Gotta keep working. Always working," he said. "I mean, yeah, there were times I was down, but I knew I could play. I always knew I could play. I knew I just didn't wake up from '06 and all of a sudden couldn't play the game. It was just one of those years."

What happened from there made it a magical year. A four-hit game July 19 raised his average past .240, and he topped the .250 mark a week later. A 9-for-14 stretch over three days at Houston and Colorado in August pushed him over .260 and started him on a 19-for-39 tear over nine games.

Only once did Jones had three or more hits in a game before the break. From then on, he had a quartet of four-hit games and five more three-hit efforts.

"It was fun. I got hot at the right time in a pennant race," he said. "That's when you want to play your best."

The day the Cubs clinched the National League Central, Jones had three hits, including a two-run double that all but set off the celebration for the Cubs in Cincinnati. It also pushed his average above .280. Two more hits in the regular-season finale brought him to .285, the same average as 2006.

Quietly, he had hit .332 over the season's second half. That couldn't save him a spot in Chicago's still-crowded outfield, and it couldn't come close to saving his string of 20-homer seasons, but it meant plenty for him.

"You know what? I play this game to be respected by my peers," Jones said. "I don't play the game to respected by writers or scouts. Your teammates see you every day. They see what you put into the game. They see how you play the game. As long as my teammates respect me over there, and they know what I meant to the team, I can live with that."

The Tigers, given their offensive depth, can live without some of the home-run power. When Leyland watches Jones, he sees someone who can take advantage of Comerica Park with other extra-base hits.

Jones' .287 career average at Comerica Park is respectable, but the hidden value is in the details. Twenty-one of his 50 hits there have gone for extra bases, including 13 doubles. Even with Jones' struggles last year, he managed 33 doubles overall, a level he has topped just once in his career.

Take Jones' quicker stroke to Detroit, and Leyland thinks he can produce something more with it.

"He hit quite a few doubles last year," Leyland said. "Some of those will be triples this year."

The potential Leyland sees -- and has expressed to Jones -- is the same approach that turned Granderson into a triples champion last year with help from coach Andy Van Slyke. Get Jones thinking three bases out of the box instead of settling for two, and he can take advantage of the gaps, which are much bigger than the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

"There's a lot of hits to be had in that park," Jones said. "Through the infield and the outfield and the gaps, there's a lot of hits to be had there. It's spacious. It's big. If you catch the ball well enough, it's going to go."

Not that he can't leave the park, either. He has seven home runs in Detroit, including the first one given up by Jeremy Bonderman in his big league debut in 2003. Jones went on to hit 8-for-26 there that year after going 11-for-27 in 2002.

He remembers homering off of Bonderman, but he also remembers the last series of that 2003 season there, when the Twins had clinched a playoff spot and the Tigers were trying to avoid 120 losses, doing so with three wins in four days.

He might be diplomatic in saying the Tigers always played them tough, but he never imagined them like this. He certainly never imagined looking at a cluster of lockers like the ones to his right and seeing those players in Tigers uniforms, let alone himself.

"I thought they were going to be good," Jones said, "but I didn't think they were going to be good that fast. Pudge [Rodriguez] started the trend of people coming over here, and in a short time, it's blossomed."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Bring on the triples! Most exciting play in baseball (assuming you don't count steals of home or inside-the-park homeruns - I don't since they're too rare).