Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
In 1883, Charley Jones also hit double digit home runs.
Stovey is oft cited as a possible hall of fame candidate (shame he never gets serious consideration by the actual hall voters), but Jones is completely forgotten. His rate statistics were superstar level, even if he didn't play enough to make HOF candidate lists. He played even better in the NL than the AA.
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For some reason historians seem to give credit to Stovey for being the first player to hit double digit Home Runs in a season, rather than Jones. It may be because Stovey accomplished the feat earlier in the season, as he hit 4 more Home Runs than Jones (14 to 10), but that is just speculation.
Jones is definitely an interesting figure. His career OPS+ of 150 ranks higher than players like Mike Schmidt, Jim Thome or Sam Thompson. But his career was short, partly because he refused to play after the 1880 season, claiming he had not been paid by the Boston Red Stockings, and suing for his salary. A jury sided with the club and the team had him blacklisted for 1881 and 1882.
Jones is also the first person to hit two Home Runs in the same inning, which he did in 1880. He would only hit 3 other Home Runs that year.
Jones' career numbers are not strong, having just over 1,115 hits and 733 Runs in 3,741 at bats and 895 games.