Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:40 am

Oh yeah,

lol

Seriously though, I think they should retire his number, hes done so much for the orginization.
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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 Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:13 am

Yah well they should retire Matt's number too....
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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 Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:13 pm

Watch em trade him.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:08 pm

So yeah, I found his home address, and Im writing a letter and I think Im sending it there this time.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:35 pm

Wow! How'd you do that?
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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 Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:30 am

Just some random thing I found. I could do it for Magglio if you totally wanted...
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:32 am

That would be great,--I just have to write it as though 12 people are also going to read it....because they will be! Frown

_________________
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 Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:33 am

Found it. Ill PM you.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:04 am

CAN YOU GET MATT'S?!?
_________________
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 Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:27 am

Erm. I can try.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:45 pm

JAMIE SAMUELSEN'S BLOG
Todd Jones is out, but he should be remembered fondly

September 17, 2008

Jamie Samuelsen, who soon will join the morning show on WRIF-FM (101.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Do you see any scenario in which Todd Jones and Kenny Rogers return to the Tigers in 2009?

Jones is gone. I don’t see any way that they can bring him back. He was stripped of his job and was awful when he tried to come back. I expect Dave Dombrowski to go after a closer either through free agency or promoting someone from the minors.

Jones leaves as one of the more mistreated Tigers in history. He is the franchise saves leader, which you’d think would deserve some praise or maybe even a “Todd Jones Night” when he retires. But because he gave up some big leads, a lot of fans think he’s the bad guy. Bad call. He cared a ton about the team, the town and winning. He faced the music whenever he messed up, which really wasn’t all that often. And he was a huge (read that word again – HUGE) factor in the 2006 season. He had four saves in four save opportunities in the playoffs and didn’t allow an earned run.

I still think that there’s an outside chance for Rogers to return. Outside of Justin Verlander and Armando Galarraga, it’s not as if the Tigers know who will be in their five-man rotation. If they can determine during the off-season that Rogers was injured in some way, causing him to fall off so dramatically in the second half, maybe he can get a minor league invitation to Lakeland next spring. I doubt if he’ll be a hot commodity on the free-agent market, but then again, you never can have too many left-handers in your rotation.

Both were huge additions here and should be treated as such. Rogers will. Jones won’t. And that’s a crime.

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:08 am

Tigers' Todd Jones to announce retirement

After 16 seasons, 319 saves and approximately 250 columns for Sporting News, Todd Jones is retiring from baseball.

Jones, who writes about his decision to call it quits in the latest issue of Sporting News magazine, is expected to make the announcement Thursday at a news conference in Detroit.

Jones retires as the Tigers' career leader in saves (235) after eight seasons (two separate stints) in Detroit. A first-round pick of the Astros in 1989, Jones spent four seasons in Houston before being traded to the Tigers in December of 1996. He also pitched for the Twins, Rockies, Red Sox, Reds, Phillies and Marlins in his career.

He has been one of the game's most durable pitchers during his career, and he ranks 14th all-time in saves (319) and 15th in appearances (982). Jones pitched more than 60 games in a season 11 times and had six seasons with at least 30 saves. Jones pitched for Team USA in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and for the A.L. All-Star team in 2000.

In Detroit, Jones has been known as a "roller coaster" closer because of his penchant for turning ninth innings into nail-biters for manager Jim Leyland and Tigers fans. In his eight seasons of writing for Sporting News, Jones has been even more reliable, never missing a deadline and putting a waiting editor on a "roller coaster" only a couple of times.

Jones, 40, has spent much of the second half of the 2008 season on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. He told Sporting News he had been pitching with a frayed labrum for some time, but he managed to stay off of the disabled list until July 31. It was just his third trip to the D.L. in his career, the first for an arm injury since 1996.

Jones is retiring from pitching, but not from writing. He plans to continue in his role as a columnist for Sporting News, bringing a player's perspective to issues ranging from clubhouse food spreads to bench-clearing brawls. "I have tried to give fans a look at what it's like from a guy who's passing through the game," Jones said.
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bow

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:39 am

Will miss ya, Jonesy.
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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 Sep 24, 2008 8:41 am

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:41 am

I already do.
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:42 am

Last of the Tigs from old Tiger Stadium.
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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 Sep 24, 2008 8:44 am

Well, Although this will be moved to the old players section. I will update it frequently, and Todd Jones will always be a Tiger!
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:59 am

Moved to old players...he's not a Tiger anymore.
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Coming soon: A better signature!

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:00 am

It seems... weird. Sorry gdennis Hug

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:14 am

That was fast!

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:26 am

Cat is fast like that. You shoulda seen how fast he kicked poor Andrew out

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:20 am

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:40 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:10 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:01 pm

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:32 pm

Guest

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:20 pm

It is, too
_________________
"We only work three hours a day, so the least we can do is give 100 percent."

Todd Jones

Subject: Re: Todd Jones Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:11 pm

09/25/2008 3:01 PM ET
Jones ready for retirement
Veteran closer glad to go out as a member of Tigers
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Todd Jones had planned since Spring Training on making this his final season, so this year has quietly been his retirement tour. Thursday, with his career plans now public, was his final stop.

In smooth games and rough appearances, easy saves and blown ones, Jones was known with the media for always being available to talk. Thursday, with his pitching days at a close, was one last time for that. Instead of looking back at an outing, he was looking over a 16-year career. It was a little tougher chore to close out, even if the self-deprecating humor was still there.

"Time moves on," an emotional Jones said, pausing to collect himself enough to deliver the line. "Just don't ever get old."

The emotion came to Jones after noting the irony that his career is winding up as Tiger Stadium comes down. He threw the final pitch at the old ballpark when the Tigers closed it in 1999. Through all the ups and downs, bouncing around from team to team for four years, he'll be remembered as a part of Detroit sports. It's where he made his career more than a decade ago. It's where his career comeback hit its high note in 2006, and it's where he ended it -- just as he hoped he'd have the chance to do when the Tigers traded him in 2001.

"For me, it means the world," Jones said. "Because everything good, everything bad that I did, I did it as a Tiger. Having the chance to close out Tiger Stadium and open Comerica [Park], pitch in the World Series, pitch for my country [in the World Baseball Classic] and pitch in an All-Star Game, I did it as a Tiger. I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish in my career, and especially as a Tiger.

"I'm just thankful I get to go out my way, because not enough players, not enough people do. I'd rather go out on my terms than grind it to the bitter end and have to rip the uniform off my body."

Retirement was in Jones' plans for a while, and it's why he chose his 2008 season carefully. Once it became clear he was not going to pitch close to his Alabama home, he was going to return to the Tigers for one more season, expecting it would be his last contract. He brought his teenage son on road trips over the summer so that he could experience it with him. He even entertained the fans during a summer rain delay by donning a long-haired wig and rounding the tarp-covered bases in an impression of Magglio Ordonez's walk-off home run from the 2006 American League Championship Series.

The planning allowed the 40-year-old Jones to take in his final season with a perspective. The injuries didn't allow him to enjoy it as much as he might've liked. A nagging shoulder injury bothered him for much of the summer before finally sidelining him in late July. He had hoped to come back and pitch for one last appearance, but his arm wouldn't allow it.

"As far as the 2008 Tigers go, [manager] Jim [Leyland] is not the Lone Ranger," Jones said, referring to Leyland taking responsibility for the team's struggles Tuesday. "I'm just as much a Tonto as anybody else is. So when you guys come up with reasons why this team didn't do what it was supposed to do, you're looking at one of them also.

"And as a player, I regret the fact that I wasn't able to go out there and take my medicine from the fans and from the media. Because it's important to finish what you started."

His nickname, "Roller Coaster," denoted how wild his outings could be. His accountability, on the other hand, was consistent. He made himself available to reporters after wins and losses. Now, after 319 saves, he wants to make himself available for his family. He'll head home after an on-field ceremony Saturday and be a stay-at-home dad while maintaining his regular column in The Sporting News, where he was able to break the story on his own retirement Wednesday.

He'll continue to follow the Tigers, of course. His playing days, however, are done.

"There's little things you're going to miss," Jones said. "I won't miss waking up in the morning and being sore. I won't miss a night game going into a day game. I won't miss 15 innings in Seattle and then getting up seven or eight times, having to do all the things players have to do every day to get ready.

"But I'll miss hanging out on the plane with all my teammates, off-days on the road, four movies in a day, being a professional kid, playing Xbox until 3 or 4 in the morning and sleeping until 2 in the afternoon, then getting up and doing it all over again. But I want people to know one thing: This was a premeditated move. At the end of the day, it really comes down to what kind of father, what kind of parent, what kind of husband you are. I put my family through a lot."

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 Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:13 pm

"But I'll miss hanging out on the plane with all my teammates, off-days on the road, four movies in a day, being a professional kid, playing Xbox until 3 or 4 in the morning and sleeping until 2 in the afternoon, then getting up and doing it all over again. But I want people to know one thing: This was a premeditated move. At the end of the day, it really comes down to what kind of father, what kind of parent, what kind of husband you are. I put my family through a lot."

That is so sad Frown

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