Todd Barton Givin Jones
Relief Pitcher
On July 30, 2004, with the Phillies only 4 1/2 games behind the Braves in the N.L. East, two of their top relievers - Ryan Madson and Billy Wagner - were injured and on the disabled list. To bolster the bullpen, Felix Rodriguez was acquired from the Giants and Todd Jones was acquired from the Reds. Rodriguez would appear in 23 games for the Phils and end up in the Upper Deck update series. Jones would appear in four more games (27) and have to wait until now to receive a Philles Missing Links virtual card.
An All-Star with the Tigers in 2000, Jones left the Phillies after that half-season to pitch four more seasons with the Marlins (2005) and again with the Tigers (2006-08).
Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6'3" Weight: 200
Born: April 24, 1968, Marietta, GA
Drafted: Drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round of the amateur player draft, June 30, 1989.
Major League Teams: Houston Astros 1993-1996; Detroit Tigers 1997-2001; Minnesota Twins 2001; Colorado Rockies 2002-2003; Boston Red Sox 2003; Cincinnati Reds 2004; Phillies 2004; Florida Marlins 2005; Detroit Tigers 2006-2008
Professional Affiliations: Houston Astros 1989-1996; Detroit Tigers 1997-2001; Minnesota Twins 2001; Colorado Rockies 2002-2003; Boston Red Sox 2003; Cincinnati Reds 2004; Phillies 2004; Florida Marlins 2005; Detroit Tigers 2006-2008
Phillies Career
27 games in relief - 3-3, 4.97 ERA, 25 1/3 innings pitched, 8 walks, 22
Acquired: Acquired with Brad Correll from the Cincinnati Reds for Josh Hancock and Anderson Machado, July 30, 2004.
Debut: July 31, 2004 - Entered with two outs in the eighth in relief of Rheal Cormier and got Sammy Sosa to pop out to short to end the inning. The Phillies would hang on to defeat the Cubs, 4-3.
Final Game: October 2, 2004 - Pitched the final two, scoreless innings in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins at home.
Departed: October 29, 2004 - Granted free agency and signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins, December 14, 2004.
|
|
|
|
2003 Topps Total #387
Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1992 Bowman #202
First Topps Base Card: 1994 Topps #97
Last Mainstream Card: 2009 Upper Deck #139
Other Notable Cards: 1990 Star Osceola Astros #12, 1993 Upper Deck #423, 1997 Fleer #576, 2001 Topps Heritage #144, 2006 Topps Heritage #247
Sources: Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database
Phillies Missing Links of the 2000s
1 Kirk Bullinger
2 Chris Pritchett
3 Bryan Ward
4 Mark Holzemer
5 Turner Ward
6 P.J. Forbes
7 Matt Walbeck
8 Kelly Stinnett
9 Valerio de los Santos
10 Josh Hancock
11 Brian Powell
12 Paul Abbott
13 Todd Jones
This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia. In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.
Todd Jones wrote a weekly column for The Sporting News back in the day, detailing life as a big leaguer, and one of the columns was about the fan mail players got asking for autographs and what they did with it. He mentioned that some players have been known to steam the stamps off return envelopes to use the stamps for their own personal mail. I will never forget that someone wrote in the most-thumbs-ups response something like, "Todd, you cheap b*****d, you're the only one that does that. I've mailed you cards five times and you never responded. All of your teammates respond, That leaves only you as the 'some players' that are too cheap to buy their own stamps."
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Hoisted on his own petard!
Another great story!
ReplyDelete