Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:21 pm

That's not saying much. I'm a better pitcher than Rodney.
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bow

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:29 pm

Jones won't blow another save the rest of this year if he gets another chance to be closer

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:34 pm

There will be BB guns pointed at him all the while!
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:39 pm

Jones Rules

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:02 pm

Why is this in old players AND current players sections?
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Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~ George F. Will

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:04 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:08 pm

oh

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Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~ George F. Will

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:42 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:43 pm

Jones gotta get healthy

Tigers need him

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:54 pm

I would have to agree!
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"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:36 pm

Todd Jones put the "loser" in "closer."
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bow

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:05 pm

08/06/2008 9:05 PM ET
Jones hopes to return next week
Tigers reliever eligible to come off DL a week from Friday
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland was paying Todd Jones a compliment. Still, it was tough for Jones to feel happy about it.

Leyland paid homage to his old closer after Tuesday's loss when he said everyone is learning how the closer's job is tougher than it looks. For Jones, however, being on the disabled list isn't exactly easy, considering he's been there just three other times in his 15-year Major League career.

"I just hope I can help out," Jones said Wednesday afternoon.

He's hoping to be able to do that soon. Jones, sidelined since last week with shoulder tendinitis, said Wednesday that he's on schedule to throw off flat ground when the Tigers return home on Friday. If all goes well from there, he believes he can be ready to come off the DL when he's eligible a week from Friday, when the Tigers open up their series against the Orioles on Aug. 15. With just two weeks out, he doesn't believe he'll need a Minor League rehab stint.

That would leave Jones with the final month and a half to the season. Whether he'll be able to throw completely pain-free remains to be seen, but he at least counts on being able to throw freer than his shoulder allowed over the past six weeks. He hopes, in turn, that he can throw more effectively.

"I just want to get an opportunity to get back in that role," he said.

Not being in any role has not been easy for him. He has not taken in a game from the bullpen since going on the DL, staying in the dugout instead, and he said watching the Tigers bullpen struggle over the past week hasn't made things any easier for him.

He knows the challenges of a closer, obviously, and while he doesn't believe watching another reliever struggle should bring any appreciation for what he did, he knows what Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya are going through. To him, closing is a craft they'll learn in time, but it isn't easy at the start.

He understands what Leyland is talking about, even if he doesn't believe it's any statement on him.

"I think there's primers on how to do it -- get ahead, have a secondary pitch you can throw for a strike," Jones said. "There's a formula, but when it comes down to how you do it, you have to just go out there and find it for yourself. There's a lot of things that go into it, other than having great stuff and throwing hard."

Or as he later said, "As you get older, you start to learn different ways to skin a cat, so to speak."

He understands the second-guessing that goes with the role, too, of course, but he doesn't believe Rodney and Zumaya should have to go through it.

"People criticize me, but they should criticize me because I'm older," Jones said. "You can't criticize those guys because they haven't had the opportunities to close."

He hopes to get that opportunity again, at least to relieve.

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

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:02 pm

We need Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Mon Aug 11, 2008 5:59 pm

08/11/2008 6:27 PM ET
Jones expects to rejoin Tigers Friday
Veteran righty, on the DL since July 31, targets first day eligible
By Scott McNeish / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Todd Jones made it clear: He will come off the 15-day disabled list as soon as possible.

Jones went on the DL on July 31 with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. In a side session on Friday, the right-handed reliever threw for the first time since hitting the shelf, and he threw again in the bullpen before Monday's game against the Blue Jays.

"Everything went fine," Jones said afterward. "Everything felt good."

Jones will play catch on Tuesday and throw another bullpen session on Wednesday. After that, he plans to return to the active roster on Friday, the first day he is eligible.

"I'm coming off [the DL] Friday, no matter what -- if I feel good, or I'm not going to get any better, depending on how you look at it," Jones said.

The 40-year-old's role remains a mystery. Jones was the Tigers' closer from 2006 through a blown save on July 25, when he was demoted in favor of setup man Fernando Rodney.

Rodney has displayed inconsistency and control problems, forcing the Tigers to adopt a three-man closing rotation, with Joel Zumaya and newly-added Kyle Farnsworth joining Rodney.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland wouldn't comment on whether Jones will become part of that rotation.

"No idea," Leyland said last weekend. "We'll just have to see how that plays out."

Scott McNeish is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:14 pm

Jones needs to come back and close it out for the rest of the season and some. I hope he doesnt retire, I really do. He should be closing things out the rest of the season anyway.
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"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:52 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:12 am

I know. Bite your tongue! I cant believe you would think of such bullshit.
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"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:28 pm

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tigers' Jones not likely to pitch again this season
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Here and gone.

Todd Jones was back with the Tigers for two days after not accompanying them on their trip to Texas and Kansas City. But with his right shoulder still hurting, he returned Wednesday to his home in Pell City, Ala., for an indefinite amount of time.

"I'm going home to work on my rehab, but I'll come back at some point (in September)," Jones said through the Tigers' media relations department.

Perhaps not to pitch, however.

"It's not right," manager Jim Leyland said of Jones' shoulder. "So we're sending him home. He'll be back at some point. Whether he'll pitch or not is a complete question mark.

"I don't foresee him pitching at this point."

Jones called a team meeting before the Tigers went out on the field for batting practice and, with hugs, was saying good-bye to his teammates when the clubhouse doors re-opened to the media.

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:30 pm

He said goodbye for good, I think.
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:00 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:09 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:11 pm

somebody better'd break it to garrett....
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:18 pm

Bye Todd.

I don't think he said good bye for good, just for the rest of the season maybe. I bet they will try him out in ST or something and see how he does.
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Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:35 pm

Todd has had a great career. While it would be a shame for him to end it on such a sour note, all good things must come to an end. If this is good-bye forever, at least he went out as a Tiger, and not a Yankee......
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"I'm glad we're in the other division," Terry Francona, manager of the East-winning Boston Red Sox, told the Associated Press. "That lineup just got scary."

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:09 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:49 am

Man. Who am I supposed to like until the end of the season?
And now next season.
I might actually shed a tear over this.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:07 am

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:11 am

Im really not smiling after I saw this this morning. i dont think I will be for a while.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:12 am

Sorry

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Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~ George F. Will

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:13 am

At least Ive got tons of lunch buddies to cheer me up. Oh and I got my Jonesy shirt in the mail the other day! Big Smile

That kinda cheered me up talking about it.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones