Cy Young Profile: Randy Jones, 1976

Pitcher, San Diego Padres

Age:  26

4^th season with Padres

Bats – Right, Throws – Left

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 178

Prior to 1976:

A native Californian, Jones was selected to the Irvine League All-Star team as a senior at Brea-Olinda High School after he compiled an 8-2 record with a 0.91 ERA and 110 strikeouts. He moved on to Chapman University where he injured tendons in his elbow but still excelled on the mound and played summer ball in Alaska during two offseasons with good results and twice participated in National Baseball Congress tournaments in Wichita, Kansas, where he performed impressively. With excellent control Jones was effective at Chapman University despite the lack of a good fastball and was drafted by the Padres in 1972. Initially assigned to Tri-City of the short-season Class A Northwest League in ’72 he was quickly promoted to the Alexandria Aces of the Class AA Texas League where he went 3-5 with a 2.91 ERA over 68 innings pitched. Jones started the 1973 season back with Alexandria and had an 8-1 record with a 2.01 ERA when he was called up to the Padres in June. Having mastered a sinkerball to go with his fastball and slider he compiled a 7-6 tally over the remainder of ’73 with a 3.16 ERA and six complete games. He suffered through a difficult season with the last-place Padres in 1974, going 8-22 to lead the NL in losses and generating a 4.45 ERA while pitching 208.1 innings, the last few in relief. He adjusted his pitching mechanics in 1975 and improved significantly to post a 20-12 record with 18 complete games and a league-leading 2.24 ERA. He was an All-Star for the first time and placed second in NL Cy Young Award balloting. Although he was lacking speed on his fastball, with his sinker, slider, and outstanding control Jones was especially tough on right-handed batters and was a quick worker on the mound.

1976 Season Summary

Appeared in 40 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 40

Games Started – 40 [1]

Complete Games – 25 [1]

Wins – 22 [1]

Losses – 14 [8, tied with four others]

PCT - .611 [13]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 5 [3, tied with Tom Seaver]

Innings Pitched – 315.1 [1]

Hits – 274 [1]

Runs – 109 [5]

Earned Runs – 96 [4]

Home Runs – 15 [18, tied with Brent Strom]

Bases on Balls – 50

Strikeouts – 93

ERA – 2.74 [5, tied with Pat Zachry]

Hit Batters – 4 [16, tied with eleven others]

Balks – 1

Wild Pitches – 0

League-leading games started were +1 ahead of runner-up J.R. Richard

League-leading complete games were +8 ahead of runner-up Jerry Koosman

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runners-up Jerry Koosman & Don Sutton

League-leading innings pitched were +24.1 ahead of runner-up J.R. Richard

League-leading hits allowed were +14 ahead of runners-up Rick Reuschel & Jim Barr

Midseason Snapshot: 16-3, ERA - 2.53, SO - 57 in 174 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 7 (in 9 IP) at LA Dodgers 4/14, (in 9 IP) vs. St. Louis 4/23

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 4 (in 9 IP) vs. St. Louis 4/23, (in 9 IP) vs. San Francisco 6/22, (in 9 IP) vs. Philadelphia 7/20

Batting

PA – 123, AB – 103, R – 6, H – 6, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 5, SO – 39, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .058, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 15, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 112

Put Outs – 31

Assists – 81

Errors – 0

DP – 12

Pct. - 1.000

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star (starting P for NL)

10^th in NL MVP voting (48 points, 14% share)

NL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Randy Jones, SD: 96 pts. – 15 of 24 first place votes, 80% share

Jerry Koosman, NYM: 69 pts. – 7 first place votes, 58% share

Don Sutton, LAD: 25 pts. – 1 first place vote, 21% share

Steve Carlton, Phila.: 11 pts. – 9% share

Rawly Eastwick, Cin.: 6 pts. – 5% share

(1 first place vote cast for Jon Matlack, NYM, who placed sixth)

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Padres went 73-89 to finish fifth in the NL Western Division, 29 games behind the division-winning Cincinnati Reds. The Padres started the season well and were surprisingly in second place, just five games behind the Reds, on June 22. With a lack of hitting they slumped in the season’s second half.

Aftermath of ‘76:

Jones had offseason surgery to repair nerve damage to his left arm and his performance dropped off to 6-12 in 1977 with a 4.58 ERA in only 147.1 innings pitched. In an inconsistent 1978 season he went 13-14 with a 2.88 ERA while accumulating 253 innings for the fourth place Padres. 1979 was another rough year in which Jones produced an 11-12 record with a 3.63 ERA in 39 starts covering 263 innings while San Diego dropped from 84-78 to 68-93. In an injury-plagued 1980 season, Jones started only 24 games and was 5-13 with a 3.91 ERA for the last-place Padres. In the offseason he was dealt to the New York Mets for two undistinguished prospects and in the strike-shortened 1981 season he fell to 1-8 with a 4.85 ERA. After undergoing a major conditioning program in the offseason he started well in 1982 and was 6-2 in his first eight decisions. His good fortune failed to hold up and he pitched especially poorly at home and finished with a 7-10 tally and 4.60 ERA. Released at his own request after the season, Jones failed to catch on with Pittsburgh in 1983 and retired. Overall Jones compiled a 100-123 record with a 3.42 ERA while pitching 1933 innings with 73 complete games and 19 shutouts. With typically low strikeout totals he fanned 735 batters in all. With the Padres he was 92-105 with a 3.30 ERA, 71 complete games and 18 shutouts. He also was a two-time 20-game winner and All-Star with his outstanding 1975 and ’76 seasons marking the height of his career. The Padres retired his #35 and Jones was inducted into the the team’s Hall of Fame in 1999.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.