So Long Todd Jones
By Blake VandeBunte • Sep 25th, 2008 • Category: 2008 season, Todd JonesToday Todd Jones will announce his retirement from baseball. I have to be honest, I’m glad he won’t be back next season. However, I will miss the guy. Jones spent half of his 16 year big league career with the Tigers and he will certainly be remembered as a Tiger. Jones is the all time saves leader in Tigers history (ahead of Mike Henneman) and has 319 for his career. Not half bad.
In this post I will shy away from all of the things I dislike about Jones and focus on the good. Jones was always good for a memorable quote or sound bite. Here are some of my favorites:
“I don’t know if I can have this kind of year again so I want to try and take advantage of it as best I can and just make pitches and try to get outs. I was with Boston in 2003 and I wasn’t an important part of the team and that kind of hurt. But I learned a lot from that and it feels good to be part of the team this year.”
“I don’t know how many more years I’ve got personally, and I don’t know if I can ever have this kind of year again. So I want to try to take advantage of it as best I can.”
“I’m glad to be back. I’m glad to be in the mix. At this stage of my career, I have to find ways to connect. Detroit is an easy connection for me.”
“I’m really excited. This was a place that meant a lot to me, it means a lot to me. I’ve seen the struggles over the last couple years, and I’m looking forward to trying to help out. This organization’s very proud, and it means a lot to me.”
“I am 40, you knew this day had to come sometime. I don’t like it. But I live with it, because I respect the man who told me.”
“I can understand why people wouldn’t want to watch, so I just tell the fans, either turn down the radio or turn off the TV and go get a sandwich. Because in 15 or 20 pitches it’ll be over, one way or the other.”
“I only pitch one inning, so by the time they realize I don’t have anything, the inning’s over.”
“Comerica is going to be electric (today) we’ve never been in this situation before so I don’t think the fans know what to think. I know they’ll be staying warm with their beer, so it’ll be loud.”
“Take momentum and shove it, I’d rather have good starting pitching. And we have great starting pitching.”
“This city, this region, this state really needs this. A lot of people are out of work. A lot of people are hurting. And for three hours every night in the summer, we were able to give them a lot of joy. I am real happy for the city and real happy for the Tigers.”
“The man (Leyland) has been amazing all year, he’s the only guy I know who can wave his hand and make your sandwich taste better.”
It was fun looking for all of these quotes. One thing you could never accuse Jones of being was boring. He was always entertaining and sometimes very frustrating. However, you know he’ll be one of those guys who is involved with the organization 20-30 years from now. He absolutely loves the Tigers. My favorite story about Jones was when the Tigers traded him back in 2001 to the Twins. I was unable to find a source for this, but I remember it very clearly. The Tigers sucked back then and the Twins were making a push for the playoffs so they made the trade for Jones. Jones was excited to join a contender but cried because he didn’t want to leave the Tigers. The man has always loved the Detroit Tigers. I may not have a lot in common with the guy, but I feel him there.
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Blake VandeBunte is a posting fiend.
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I wouldn’t mind seeing the Roller Coaster replacing Rod in the booth. It would at least be a little more entertaining.
welp…he’ll be in the booth tomorrow right?
First of all, I think Rod is plenty strange and entertaining. Second, I don’t see Jones making the move right to the booth. I know he likes to write but I’m not sure he’s a TV guy. We’ll see how he does on TV on Friday.