Randy Jones

Randall Leo Jones (born January 12, 1950), nicknamed "Junkman", is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. Jones won the Cy Young Award with San Diego in 1976. The Padres retired his 35. Jones attended Brea-Olinda High School in Brea, California, and Chapman University in Orange, California. He was known for his sinker and the large number of ground-ball outs he induced. He was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame. Professional baseball career Jones was selected by the San Diego Padres in the fifth round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut on June 16, 1973. In 1974, Jones went 8–22 with a 4.45 ERA. He was able to turn it around in 1975 when he won 20 games and led the National League with a 2.24 ERA, earning The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. He felt that he should have been a contender for the 1975 Cy Young Award, but lost out due to a lack of exposure from the media. His best season was in 1976, where he was survived a car crash, went 22–14 with a 2.74 ERA, started the All-Star Game, won the National League Cy Young Award, and was named The Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year. He was selected as the left-handed pitcher on The Sporting News NL All-Star Teams after the 1975 and 1976 seasons. At the All-Star break in July , Jones' record was 16–3, a win total that no one has equaled since. He also had the most complete games and had pitched over 300 innings in the 1976 season.