Cleon Jones: Mets All Time Left Fielder (Part One- the Sixties)

Cleon Joseph Jones was born on August 4, 1942, in Plateau, Alabama just outside of Mobile. The town was racially mixed & known for its paper mills. 

In 1945 his father had to leave town after he beat a man who had grabbed his wife’s hair while waiting for a bus. Rather than stand trial in the South he relocated to Chicago, Illinois.

Cleon’s mother moved him & his brother- Tommie Lee to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, she passed away unexpectedly, and the two boys had to be raised by their grandmother back in Mobile.

In high school he was a teammate & friend of Tommie Agee. At Mobile County Training high school, he was a star athlete. In football he was a half back scoring 26 touch downs. On the track team he was a 9.7 man. On the baseball team he played outfield & pitched.

Legend has it, Cleon was a natural lefthander but was hitting the ball so hard he was losing too many balls. So he began to bat right-handed in order to save baseballs. 

Trivia: Mobile, Alabama was also home to baseball greats like Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Satchel Page & Willie McCovey. 

In 1963, Cleon was drafted by the New York Mets out of Alabama A&M. There he had starred in both baseball as well as football. 

MLB Debut: The Mets brought him up right away to the big-league club, in desperate need of some talent. On September 14th, 1963, at age 21, Cleon debuted, as a defensive replacement for Duke Carmel in a 4-0 loss to the Houston Astros at The Polo Grounds. 

Cleon certainly wasn’t ready for the big leagues, in a short six game stay he was 2-15. In 1964 he spent the season at AAA Buffalo, hitting .278 with 16 HRs & 70 RBIs.

Trivia: Topps issued two Cleon Jones Mets Rookie Cards, one in 1965 & one in 1966.

1965 Season: Cleon made the 1965 Mets club out of Spring Training & was brought in as a pinch hitter on Opening Day, striking out against the Dodgers Don Drysdale. He got his first start in the outfield the next day in a game against Houston, where he went 1-5 with two runs driven in.

In early May he was only batting .156 after 13 games & was sent back down to AAA Buffalo. He hit 15 more HRs there & was brought back up in September. 

On September 19th, he had two hits, a walk & drove in three runs in an 8-6 Mets win at Wrigley Field. On September 22nd, 1965, Jones hit his first career HR, it came off the Pirates Bob Friend at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in a 6-2 Mets loss.

In 30 games he batted .149 with a HR & nine RBIs.

1966 Rookie Season: By 1966 he arrived in the big leagues for good as the Mets regular center fielder. On Opening Day, he batted in the leadoff spot. Cleon started out the season hitting a HR off the Braves Denny LeMaster in a 3-2 loss at Shea Stadium.

On April 24th, in the second game of a double header he collected an RBI single off the Braves LeMaster, helping in a 4-3 Mets win in Atlanta. 

Walk Off HR: On May 6th, with the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning, Cleon hit a walk off HR off the Cubs Ken Holtzman for an exciting 2-1 Mets win. It was his first career walk off hit.

Multi- Three RBI Game: On May 14th, Cleon had a three hit, three RBI Day helping the Mets in an 11-4 win over the Giants at Shea.

In June Cleon had an eleven-game hit streak which got him over the .300 mark. 

On June 22nd, in the top of the 10th inning in St. Louis, Cleon broke up a scoreless game with a two-run single off former Met Al Jackson in what were the only two runs of the game. Jack Fisher (8 innings) & Jack Hamilton (1 inning) combined on the shut out.

In the next game he hit a two run HR off Fergie Jenkins to beat the Cubs at Wrigley 4-2. He got his average up to .300 although it tailed off from there.

From August 17th to August 23rd, he drove in seven runs in an eight-game span. 

In the first game of an August 22nd double header, he collected three hits, including an 8th inning single off Rick Wise tying up the game. Next up, Jim Hickman's two HR then put New York ahead for the win 6-5. 

On August 23rd, Jones hit a two run HR off the Cubs Dick Ellsworth at Wrigley Field in a 4-1 Mets win.

On September 23rd, he drove in three runs in Cincinatti as the Mets topped the Reds 8-4. On September 28th in the second game of a twin bill, he helped Bob Shaw to a 1-0 shut out over the Cubs & Bill Hands, by driving in the only run of the game at Wrigley Field.

Jones finished the year, second on the club to Chuck Hiller in batting at .275 average. He also led the team in stolen bases setting a club record (at the time) with 16 steals. 

Cleon had 136 its, with 16 doubles 4 triples 8 HRs 74 runs scored & 57 RBIs. He posted a .318 on base % & 689 OPS. 

Topps All Star Rookie: Cleon came in fourth place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting & made the Topps All Star Rookie Team.

1967: Cleon struggled starting out the season, batting .140 with just two HRs & five RBIs at the start of June. 

Mets Manager Wes Westrum benched him & criticized him in the media, discouraging the young player. Veteran Ken Boyer gave him a pep talk, telling Jones things would turn around, that he had to hang in there. 

On June 18th things began to turn around, in the second game of a double header, he had a three-hit game in a loss to the Cubs. Cleon then went on a nine-game hit streak, hitting safely in 12 of 15 games into July which finally raised his average over the .200 mark. 

On June 25th, he hit his first HR in a month, a three-run shot in a loss at Atlanta.

Multi -Five RBI Game: On July 26th, he helped Rookie Tom Seaver in an 11-5 win over the Giants by driving in five runs at Candlestick Park.  In the 2nd inning, Jones hit a two run HR off Ray Sadecki. He added an RBI sac fly & RBI single as well.

From August 12th to August 28th, he hit .438, with a 13-game streak, hitting safely in 16 of 17 games. He collected two triples & three doubles in that time.

On August 28th, in the first game of a double header, Jones hit a two-run single off the Cardinals Steve Carlton helping Jack Fisher & the Mets to a 4-2 victory.

For 1967 Cleon batted .246 with 101 hits, 10 doubles 5 triples, 5 HRs 46 runs scored & 30 RBIs. He struck out 57 times with 19 walks, posted .282 on base % & .613 OPS. He also stole a team leading 12 bases (tied with Bud Harrelson) in 14 attempts.

Jones played 115 games in the outfield; 83 in centerfield where he led the league in fielding % (.994%). He also played in 22 games in left field. Overall, he made five assists.

1968 season: In 1968 there were big changes in New York as Gil Hodges came aboard as the team's manager. One of the things he did right away, was persuade the Mets to trade for Cleon's childhood friend Tommie Agee to play alongside him in the outfield. The two outfielders were happy to be reunited.

Tommie Agee Greets His Childhood Pal
Cleon Jones at Home Plate

Hodges was familiar with Agee from his days in the American League as manager of the Senators. With the White Sox, Agee was the 1966 Rookie of the Year. 

Cleon started out slow, batting .223 with just three HRs & nine RBIs through May. At the time he was platooning in left field with Art Shamsky, but in June he got hot. 

In the month of June, he batted .343 with 15 extra base hits, six HRs 18 RBIs & seven stolen bases.

On June 19th he hit a solo HR off Wade Blasingame & drove in a pair of runs in an 8-2 Mets win over the Astros at Shea. 

Multi- Four RBI Game: The next day Cleon hit a three run HR off Houston's Larry Dierker, along with a sac fly for a season best four RBI game, helping Tom Seaver reach .500 to get to 5-5.

Multi- Four RBI Game: On June 23rd Cleon hit a three run HR off the Dodgers Bill Singer & had an RBI double, leading the Mets to a 5-4 win. It matched his season high four RBI game of two days ago.

Four Hit - Multi RBI Game: On July 6th Cleon collected four hits, with an RBI single & two run double in an 11-6 win over the Phillies. In the month he had seven multi-hit games.

On August 14th he hit his 12th HR of the season, a two-run shot off the Dodgers Claude Osteen in an 8-4 win in LA. On August 26th, Cleon's sac fly off Steve Carlton was the only run in a 1-0 Mets win behind Jim McAndrew.

At the start of September, he was batting .285. From September 1st thru September 3rd, in the course of two double headers he had five straight muti hit games. In the month, Cleon had 13 multi-hit games. 

He closed out the year hitting safely in nine of ten games, driving in six runs. 

On September 28th, Cleon drove in two of the Mets three runs in the 3-2 win over the Phillies. 

In the month, Cleon raised his average ten points entering the final game of the season with a chance to hit .300 on the year.  In the final game Cleon went 1-5 finishing up with a .297 average falling just below .300 for the season. 

1968 was remembered as the Year of The Pitcher & Jones' .297 average was sixth best in the league. He led the club in most offensive categories that season hits (151) doubles (29) run scored (63) slugging (.452) & set a new team record of 23 stolen bases (5th in the NL). He also had 14 HRs with 55 RBIs & a .341 on base % second to Jerry Grote (.357). 

In his first full season playing left field Jones posted a .966% which was second best in the league, making seven assists.

1969 Championship Season: In the 1969 Mets Championship season, Jones had his best year becoming the team's best hitter and challenging for the NL batting title. 

On Opening Day, he started out with three hits, while driving in a run in the Mets loss to the expansion Montreal Expos.

Multi- RBI Games: On April 9th, the second game of the season, he collected two RBIs with a single & sac fly in the Mets 9-5 victory, their first win of the 1969 season. On April 11th, he drove in three runs in a 6-5 loss to the Cardinals, including a 9th inning HR off Joe Hoerner. 

Cleon hit safely in his first five games, having three games with three hits each.

Multi- Six RBI Doubleheader: On April 27th, in Shea a double header split with the Chicago Cubs Jones drove in six runs, with two multi- three RBI games, while collecting five hits in the two games. 

Walk Off HR: In the second game he provided all the Mets offense with a three-run walk off HR off Chicago’s Rich Nye in the bottom of the 9th inning, breaking a scoreless tie helping in Jim McAndrew & Tug McGraw's combined shut out.

During the month of April, Cleon batted .410 with 32 hits, five doubles eight extra base hits & 14 RBIs. He hit safely in 18 of the20games that month.

In the first eight games of May he had four multi-hit games & hit three HRs. On May 11th, in the second game of a double header, he drew a season high four walks, in a 11-7 Mets win over the Astros at Shea.

Grand Slam HR: On May 14th at Shea Stadium, Jones hit his first career grand slam HR. It came off Atlanta pitcher (future Met) George Stone, in an eight-run 8th inning of a 9-3 win. It was Jones sixth HR & 23rd RBIs of the season, as he was batting .392.

Multi- Four RBI Game: Three days later he hit a three run HR off former Met Jack Fisher, driving in four runs against the Cincinnati Reds in an 11-3 Met win.

Cleon drove in runs in three straight games as he collected two more RBIs in the Mets 5-0 win in
Atlanta the next night, then another RBI in the loss the next game.

At the end of May, Jones was batting .362, he drove in 18 more runs in the month hitting five HRs. 

Jones was the most productive Mets offensive player in the first two months of the season, as he was among the tops hitters in batting in the NL. Some of the pressure came off of Jones when Don Clendenon arrived at the June 15th, trade deadline. The team now had a true power hitter & RBI man in the clean-up spot after Cleon & Tommie Agee.

From June 20th to June 29th, Cleon batted .452, also drawing six walks for a .541 on base % with 14 hits & nine RBIs over the ten games.

Big Series with the Cubs: By July 8th, the Mets were starting to gain some attention as true contenders. That day, they hosted the first place Chicago Cubs in a matinee at Shea Stadium, in front of 55,000 fans. The Cubs took a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning, led by Hall of Famer pitcher Fergie Jenkins. Ken Boswell led off with a double & after Tommie Agee popped up, Donn Clendenon doubled as well. 

Cleon then doubled off Jenkins in to left field, scoring both runners to tie the game. Shea Stadium erupted in madness. Next Ed Kranepool dropped a hit into left field scoring Jones with the games walk off winning run. The crowd went wild as it was absolute bedlam at Shea Stadium.

Tom Seaver's Imperfect Game: The next night is one of the most famous games in Mets history, as Tom Seaver took a perfect game into the 9th inning. Then with one out, pinch hitter Jimmy Qualls spiled it with a base hit. But Seaver got the next two outs & pitched a one hit 4-0 shut out as the Mets moved to within 2.5 games of th first place Cubs. 

In the 7th inning of that game Jones homered off Ted Abernathy for the Mets fourth run.

1969 All Star Game: By the All-Star break Jones was batting .341 battling for the leagues lead in hitting. He was elected to his first All Star game joining Mets pitchers Tom Seaver & Jerry Koosman on the NL squad. 

Cleon started the game in the outfield alongside Henry Aaron & Matty Alou. Jones went 2-4 with a pair of singles. In the 2nd inning he singled off Mel Stottlemyer & scored on Johnny Bench's HR. In the 6th inning, he collected a single off the Orioles Dave McNally. He also reached on an error in another at bat. The NL won the game 9-3 in the Nation's Capital at RFK Stadium. 

Removed from Game While in the Outfield: On July 30th, the Houston Astros pummeled the Mets 16-3 in the first game of a double header at Shea. In the second game the Mets again were beat up by Houston 11-5 on a wet rainy field. By the top of the 3rd inning, they were already down 7-0 when Nolan Ryan replaced Gary Gentry on the mound for the Mets. 

Then Astros catcher Johnny Edwards doubled to left field scoring Doug Rader. Jones who had been nursing an ankle injury, slowly went after the ball & weakly tossed it back to the infield.

Next, thing everyone saw was Mets manager Gil Hodges walking out of the dugout, then walking past the mound. Nolan Ryan had just pitched to one batter, but Hodges didn’t want him, as kept walking through the infield.

Bud Harrelson thought he was coming for him but couldn’t figure what he did wrong. Then Hodges walked past the short stop. He was now heading for Cleon Jones, who also thought Gil had been going to Harrelson for something. He now knew the manager was coming to him. The rest of the team held their breath; “I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of this” thought Tom Seaver.

According to Cleon Jones he said Hodges told him “That ankle is bothering you, you better come out, if you’re nursing it like that”. Jones at first said “I told you I can play through it Gil, the grass is just wet”. Hodges responded, “no you better come out if it’s bothering you” & pulled him from the game.

Hodges walked away with a dejected Cleon Jones a few feet

behind him with his head hung low. Hodges had just proved to his team that he would not settle for anything else but 100% from his players, no matter what the score is. Keep in mind, at the time Jones was leading hitter in the N.L. The rest of the players thought, if he can remove the league’s batting leader, he could remove any of us at any time.

From that day on, the 1969 Mets went 45-19, the best record in baseball. As for Jones, he gave it 110% every day forward. Cleon Jones held no grudges; even fifty later he said Gil Hodges was the best manager he ever played for. 

Years later, Joan Hodges, Gil's wife said it was one of the hardest things Gil had to do & he never meant to embarrass the player. 

1969 Batting Race: Throughout the season Jones would remain atop the NL in batting average, alongside Pete Rose, Roberto Clemente, Matty Alou & Willie McCovey, all in the hunt.

As the Mets rolled along that summer, so did Jones. In August the team was 2-10 & went on a streak winning 12 of 13 games. Jones had hits in all but two of those games. 

On August 3rd, with the Mets down 5-0 to the Braves at Shea, thy had a five-run 6th, inning with Cleon contributing with a two-run single off Cecil Upshaw. They won the game on Jerry Grote's Walk off hit. Jones was hitting .350.

On Augus 5th, he had a three-hit game in a loss at Cincinnati. On that road trip he hit safely in eight straight games & drove in runs in three straight games at Atlanta. He then drew walks in three straight games in Houston. At the time he was posting a .434 n base %.

Later that month, Jones collected seven hits in a three-game series with the Giants at Shea Stadium. 

Two Multi- RBI Games: On August 26th, In the first game of a double header in San Diego, Jones broke a 6th inning 2-2 tie with a two run double off Tommie Sisk. He was thrown out at third base on the play. Jones reached the 70 RBI mark that night for the first time in his career. Two games later, his 1st inning two run double, led the way for a Jerry Koosman 4-1 two hit victory over the Padres.

In September he missed some time with an injury playing in just 12 games in the month. This may have hurt his chances of winning the batting crown as well. On September 24th when the Mets clinched the NL East, Jones was 0-4 in the game. 

The unlikely NL East champions had finished ninth just a year before while winning 73 games. In 1969 they improved to win 27 more games surprising everyone & captivating the city as well as the baseball world.

Jones finished the year third in the league in batting, hitting .340 setting a Met record that stood for almost three decades. He had career bests in on base percentage (.422) which was 5th best in the N.L. & in RBIs (75) runs scored (92) hits (164) walks (64) & OPS (.904). He also hit 12 HRs 25 doubles four triples & stole 16 bases in 23 tries. He led the team with ten game-winning RBIs.

In left field, he posted the league’s best fielding % (.991%) making just two errors in 229 chances, making four assists. 

Trivia: At age 26, he was the oldest regular starting position player on the team.

1969 Post Season- NLCS: In Game #1 of the 1969 NLCS in over the Atlanta Braves, Cleon singled in the 8th inning off Phil Niekro scoring Wayne Garrett to tie the game at 5-5. He scored the go-ahead run-on Ed Kranepool's fielder's choice. The Mets went on to a 9-5 win.

HR & Multi RBI Game: In the Game #2 Mets 11-6 win at Fulton County Stadium, Jones collected three hits & drew a walk. 

In the 5th inning, with New York already up 8-1 he singled off Milt Pappas driving in Wayne Garrett for his first RBI. 

In the top of the 7th, he hit his first post season HR- coming off Cecil Upshaw putting the Mets up 11-6. which was the final score.

In Game #3 at Shea Stadium, in front of 54,195 excited Mets fans, Cleon, went 2-4, in the Mets 7-4 series clinching game. In the 5th inning he doubled then scored on Ken Boswell's base hit off George Stone.  The Mets won the game 7-4 behind Nolan Ryan's seven inning relief performance. 

The Amazing Mets swept the first NLCS ever player & were heading on the World Series to face the mighty Baltimore Orioles. 

Overall, in the NLCS, Cleon hit .429 (6-14) with two doubles, a HR & four RBIs posting a .467 on base percentage.

1969 World Series: In the World Series Jones hitting was shut down by Baltimore Orioles pitching. He was only 3-19, batting .158 with no RBIs. 

In the Game #1 loss, he singled off Mike Cuellar in his first World Series at bat.  Jones was hitless in the next two games.

In Game #4 at Shea Stadium, with the game tied at one in the bottom of the 9th inning, he singled to left field off Eddie Watt but was left stranded on third base. The Mets went on to win it in the 10th inning, when J.C. Martin bunted successfully, scoring Rod Gaspar in the 10th inning. Martin was hit by the throw from catcher Elrod Hendricks & was ruled safe.

Cleon always seemed to make his way to the middle of some of the most defining moments in the Mets glory days.

The Shoe Polish Play: In Game #5 at Shea Stadium, the Mets were down 3-0 in the 6th inning.

Orioles' pitcher Dave McNally threw a hard breaking ball to Jones that bounced off his foot or into the dirt. 

Cleon claimed to the umpire he was hit by the pitch on his foot. Mets manager Gil Hodges quickly emerged from the dugout showing umpire Lou DiMuro a shoe-polish smudge on a baseball. The umpire was convinced that Jones had been hit and awarded him first base.

The Orioles were up in arms, but manager Earl Weaver had to keep his calm during the argument since he had been ejected from Game #4 the day before. 

Trivia: Years later Jerry Koosman claimed the ball landed near him & manager Hodges told him to rub it on his shoe to put polish on the ball.

In the next at bat, Donn Clendenon hit a two-run home run that brought the Mets within a run. As everything else that went the Mets way in the Miracle of the '69 season, so did this.

In the 8th inning, Jones led off with a double off Eddie Watt. Ron Swoboda then doubled with one out, Jones scored the go ahead run as the Mets took a 4-3 lead. Shea Stadium went wild.

 Jerry Grote would reach on an error by Boog Powell & Swoboda scored the insurance run as the Mets went on the 5-3 win.

 they went on to win the game & the World Series that historic day.

Jones will forever be remembered in Mets history for kneeling on one knee & catching Davey Johnson’s fly ball for the last out of the Series. 

Quotes- Cleon Jones: “Come on down baby, come on down” he said to himself as he caught the final out. Jones then ran over to center field celebrate with his childhood friend Tommie Agee. Then the two ran thru the crowd as they stormed the field. The Amazing Mets were World Champions.

Cleon celebrated in the Mets clubhouse as the champagne flowed.

He would appear with the team at the tickertape parade & on the Ed Sullivan Show singing "You got to have heart".