Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Randy Jones

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Mets
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Randy Jones
vs. the Mets

Randy Jones
vs. Other Teams

Memories of
Randy Jones

Randy Jones
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 323 of 1252 players

Randall Leo Jones
Born: January 12, 1950 at Fullerton, Cal.
Throws: Left Bats: Right
Height: 6.00 Weight: 180

Randy Jones was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on March 4, 2023.

First Mets game: April 11, 1981
Last Mets game: September 7, 1982

Winner of National League Cy Young award, 1976. (San Diego Padres)
Winner of National League Player of the Week award, May 23, 1982. (New York Mets)

Share your memories of Randy Jones

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

The Beezer
This guy was horrible. When he was with the Mets, I always found it hard to believe that he won a Cy Young award. What happened to him?

murphy
He was a killer in San Diego. True to form with the late 70s early 80s Mets teams, they always got guys two to three years past their prime. See Mickey Lolich, George Foster... That trend ended with Keith Hernandez.

Adam
I remember watching him load the bases and walk a run in. It was pitiful. And they gave that guy the Cy Young.

VIBaseball
June 22, 2001
Look at his '82 season -- I remember watching that great start he got off to, and everybody was hoping he'd reclaimed his Cy Young form. But the guy was a soft tosser even at his best, and when finesse guys go downhill, they just get pounded. He was like Frank Tanana at the end.

Larry Burns
June 3, 2002
Much better pitcher in San Diego than in NY. He was a prototypical junkballer whose good games always pissed off hitters because they could not figure out how this guy was doing it. I think they took it out on him when the took the mound at Shea. But then again, look at his photo, he looks strangely like Dr. Smith from the old "Lost in Space" tv show. That guy could not slip a curveball past the Robot, so what the hell were we expecting?

Cutting
July 11, 2002
Ok Mets fans, I agree he didn't help your cause at all. I actually grew up with Randy in Brea, CA, and he threw junk even in Little League, but he perfected it. He was always a good guy though, so, although he probably should have hung up his cleats after starting the All-Star game, winning Cy Young and appearing on the Cover of Sports Illustrated, be kind.

Mr. Sparkle
July 12, 2002
He's definitely among the all-bust team as he came with such great expectations and ended up sucking bad. He was better suited for the 62 Mets, a good pitcher at the end of his career.

Joe Figliola
October 4, 2002
I remember an article from 1975 where he cried that he should have won the Cy Young Award and not Tom Seaver. I think that's why he won the following year and not Jerry Koosman. I thought Kooz had the better year.
Jones was a flaky guy. He did a couple of commericals for promotions where he was acting quite silly. I also recall him turning his ankle in an exhibition game against the Blue Jays prior to the post-strike second season in 1981. My attitude was: no loss. How keyed up can you get over an injury to a pitcher who was 1-7 at the time?

Big Vin
December 15, 2002
Years ago my buddy Rocco and I went to a Met game that Randy pitched. It took two freaking hours to get into the second inning. Walk after walk after infuriating walk. If they didn't walk then they got a hit and EVERY batter went to a deep count on Randy. By the third inning Randy was out of the game and I was out of money since I bought so much beer trying find solace. Thank God the tickets were comped and the 7 train was running good that day or I might very well have hanged myself. I recently saw Randy on The Food Network of all places. He runs a specialty food stand at Qualcom Stadium now. I guess time heals all wounds so I wish him luck but man - did he suck!

Metsmind
December 24, 2002
It's 1982. The long anticipated Opening Day is frigging SNOWED OUT in Philly. Now for the bad news. Randy Jones will start game 1 whenever it happens. I wish I knew how to gamble back then. If that doesn't smell like last place right around the corner.

The Mook
November 10, 2003
Jones was definitely on the steep part of the downward slope when he arrived in NY. He had had arm surgery just after his Cy Young season from which he never truly recovered. C'mon if he was so good, would the Mets have gotten him for John "Cap Count" Pacella and Jose Moreno?

dahliakitty
July 23, 2004
My wonderful Randy Jones memory revolves around a sunny Sunday matinee game against the Cardinals. Don't know which year. But the Mets were bad, and seats were easy to obtain.
We got to the game a little late; already under way in the top of the first inning. Randy had loaded the bases (think it was walks; not sure); just as we're sitting down, CRACK --- the first pitch to Darrel Porter clears the back of the right field bullpen. No one on the field moved. No one out, 4-0 Cardinals.
It was a wonderful encapsulation of the Mets in that era.

Jonathan Stern
August 3, 2004
At age 19, Ed Kranepool inspired the banner "Is Ed Kranepool over the hill?" But, in truth, I don't think I have ever seen an older-looking player than Jones. I remember getting his card from back when he was with the Padres (1979 card, I think) and being shocked when the back of the card said that he was born in 1950. I couldn't believe that the man was still in his twenties.
I disagree with the above comment comparing Jones to Frank Tanana. Chiquita Tanana was, sadly, our most reliable pitcher in 1993, a man who gave it his all, took his lumps every fifth day, and showed more than a little of what the term,"Old School," meant on a $40- million+, 103-loss team. That the Yankees obtained him near the season's end for a pennant run bore that out. Only the 1919 White Sox would have traded for Jones.

Mook
December 6, 2006
They still love him in San Diego, though. He has a radio show and also runs a food stand within the Petco Field outer gates. His retro jersey is still a big seller there. Who says San Diego fans are indifferent?

Jason in the 909
April 7, 2007
When my wife worked at Food Network a few years' back, she came home one night with a couple of bottles of Randy's barbecue sauce. I think the label even had a baseball design. I never had the heart to actually use them, and tossed them during a move. I still get annoyed thinking about how he got off to that great 6- 2 start in 1982 and went 1-8 the rest of the way. There's a start he made that year where he literally did not retire a batter -- four walks and he was gone. Then he moved back to California and coached the young Barry Zito. Great guy, just not in our town.

Paul
March 18, 2012
Every time I saw him pitch for the Mets, he was walking the opposing pitcher with the bases loaded.

Mitch45
July 25, 2023
Guess who beat out Jerry Koosman for the 1976 NL Cy Young Award? You guessed it, Randy Jones. Kooz had one of his finest seasons in '76, going 21-10 with a sub-3.00 ERA.

John T
April 6, 2024
Randy Jones was over 40 years old when the Mets traded for him, and of course he was ineffective. It took about 20 more years before the Mets realized that players of 34 years old have very limited potential.

Flitgun Frankie
April 11, 2024
Memory plays trick. I always had the idea that the Mets picked up Randy Jones because he had a good record vs. them and always killed them when he pitched against them, but I either must have him confused with somebody else or he must have had one great game against him that I happened to be watching and that stuck in my mind. His record against the Mets wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good either, being 8-7. He did have two shutouts so maybe it was one of those games I was watching. He was five years past his prime when the Mets got him so I don't know what fans were expecting. Getting him at that point in his career was purely a shot in the dark. Maybe he should have learned to throw a knuckleball.