San Diego Padres: FoB Sits Down With Friars HOF’er Randy Jones

FoB Interview with San Diego Padres legend Randy Jones

You made your debut in 1973. What was life like in the major leagues at that time and were there any players who went out of their way to show you the ropes?

Randy Jones: Yeah, when I got called up in early-July in ’73, those were pretty exciting times, especially in that era. The 70s and 80s had some great ballplayers still playing. Getting to face guys like Mays and Aaron and those type of players, you know, and competing against Seaver and Carlton and Nolan Ryan and pitching against all those guys, it was pretty phenomenal.

The game was still old-school then; a lot of guys getting knocked down, a lot of big arguments, a friendlier strike zone, compared to today. There was a lot of stuff going on at that point in time. It was cool.

Talking about guys who reached out, Nate Colbert and Cito Gaston were great teammates who kind of reached out to me when I got up to the big leagues and showed me some of the ropes. Bob Miller, the old relief pitcher, did as well. Mike Halliwell was a good teammate.

All of these guys had a degree of experience so that came in handy especially that first year. I didn’t say much. Back in the old days, for rookies, you spoke when you were spoken to by the veterans. I was pretty quiet most of the time. Long on ears and short on mouth.

In 1974 you went 8-22 4.45 ERA. The next season you turned it all around, going 20-12 2.24 ERA. How were you able to bring it all together?

RJ: I think finally getting the rationale of what happened in 1974 helped a little bit. When I finally put it all in perspective and started thinking about it, and I have to credit my new pitching coach at the time, Tom Morgan, it helped me kind of do that.

It seemed like in all of my starts I was in the game, for the most part, into the 6th inning and then I’d get into trouble. I wasn’t getting a lot of run support, but still, I’d get a little tired and start elevating the baseball. And once you start elevating that sinker, you are gonna get in trouble.

And that inconsistency is probably what cost me. The high ERA was a result of the last two months of the season. I just got rocked. I lost my confidence. It wasn’t pretty. I went into ’75 and Tom Morgan wanted to make some changes to my mechanics and I bought into what he wanted to do.

We started working on it in January, heading into Spring Training. I started getting really comfortable with him, started training better. Then once I got to Spring Training I went out there feeling like I really had to win my job after losing 22 games and I didn’t give up a run all spring (30 innings).

I was just trying to make the club. I didn’t know I was going to be that good. Then I was named Opening Day starter and that kind of shocked me. It took about two or three starts into the ’75 season to really find my stuff.

Actually, I’ll tell you exactly when it was. I won my third game, a relief appearance against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. I’d only went 2 2/3 innings the start before. Tom Morgan took me out to the bullpen and brought me in in about the 4th inning, I pitched the rest of the game and we won.

I was just locked in that day. All the mechanics, all of the consistency that I’d been wanting were just kind of locked in and I was off to the races. I think I went 11-3 the first half of the year and all of a sudden my confidence was back and my mental approach had completely changed. All of a sudden all of that bad luck turned into good luck and it as a completely different world.

FoB Interview with San Diego Padres legend Randy Jones

That brings me right to my next question. Were you ever at the point from 1975 to 1976 that you just expected to go out there and have your A-game? Was your confidence that high?

RJ: Uh, yeah (laughs). By the end of ’75, my confidence was pretty high.  Winning the ERA title (in ’75). I purposely pitched the last game of the year, my scheduled start, even though (Tom) Seaver was pitching and Andy Messersmith was pitching too (both were within striking reach of the ERA title).

The team came to me and said, “if you don’t pick up the baseball, you automatically win the NL ERA title”. I looked at him and I said I was gonna go out there and earn it. I made the last start and got beat by the Giants. But that’s all right. I won the ERA title fair-and-square.

In 1975, you lost two no-hitters in the 7th inning or later. Have you ever second-guessed any decisions you made during those games or were you able to simply turn the page and move on?

RJ: I turned the page and moved on. The one in St. Louis was a 10-inning one-hitter against the Cardinals. The only hit I gave up was to (career .248 hitter) Luis Melendez. A ground ball to my right that rolled off of my glove and he got an infield hit, and that was it.

The other one was against the Reds. I had a perfect game through seven and Tony Perez led off the 8th and hit a groundball to shortstop that Hector Torres threw about four rows up into the stands. There went the perfect game. Then I had two outs and Perez on third. I tried to jam Bill Plummer, of all people, with a slider and he hit a little flare to right for a single. I lost the no-hitter and the shutout in one pitch. No second guesses though.

Your off-speed stuff obviously played very well during the era you played in with so many slap-hitters and so much speed and small-ball. Do you think the era that you played in benefitted your career, considering your pitching-style?

RJ: Yes. Even to get the opportunity to make the big leagues as a pitch-to-contact, groundball pitcher, it’s a different mindset or a different philosophy when you’re out there. I mean, today with the radar guns and speed being as important as it is, I’m not even sure I’d have got signed (laughs).

All I knew is that I could figure out a hitter’s weaknesses and I would work on those and get them out.

You guys didn’t have half of the technology that players have available to them now so you just had to keep your notes and approach it like that?

RJ: Yeah, and they’re mental notes. I didn’t write a thing down. I didn’t have to. I knew every lineup that I was gonna pitch against. You would make some very quick assessments while the guy is in the box and, you know, feel him out and figure out what you had to do. It didn’t take too long.

The big thing is when you have command and good control, you can take advantage of a strike zone or of an umpire’s strike zone. It was just a completely different type of game. That’s all I had. I didn’t beat myself. That was one of the keys.

FoB Interview with San Diego Padres legend Randy Jones

You were traded from the San Diego Padres to the New York Mets in 1980, one of the first handful of moves made by (then GM) Frank Cashen after he was hired by the Mets. What was it like leaving San Diego and what was it like adjusting to life in New York?

RJ: I loved it! I had no problems whatsoever. I enjoyed my time there, I just wish I would have been healthy. I knew when I accepted the trade that (Frank) Cashen was rolling the dice, and so was I. I’d already snapped a nerve in my arm three times.

Then I went out there and did it again both years I was in New York. It was very, very frustrating. Mentally and physically I was the same pitcher, I was just out of bullets. I just couldn’t stay healthy. It was frustrating and I wish we could have played a little better.

I got to New York, they were rebuilding and trying to get better. I had just come from a situation like that in San Diego. Overall, I had a great time. I have no complaints, I just wish I would have been healthy.

You were there through the 1982 season. Could you tell something big was brewing in Queens, leading up to the Mets 1986 World Series championship?

RJ: I thought so. I liked the direction they were going. Ownership was willing to spend some money and invest and develop a system. I think the desire to win at that time was a little stronger in New York than it was in San Diego.

San Diego is a little laid-back and I think that’s been a nemesis of-sorts for professional sports teams in the city. No more being laid-back, let’s win a championship!

It looks like that’s what (San Diego Padres GM) A.J. Preller has in mind.

RJ: That’s correct. I’m excited about it. I’m going out to Spring Training on Monday. Gonna put the uniform on, work with the guys for about three weeks. I’m looking forward to working with the guys, seeing how they interact.

There are so many young pitchers. Any plans for what you’re going to speak to them about?

RJ: I’ll talk to them about the mental part of the game. Setting guys up, that part of the game. I’ll try to get my message across but they speak a different language these days with all of the new stats.

Do you pay a lot of attention to advanced stats? 

RJ: I’m not really big on the stats. I take a look at a guy in person, give him the eye test. I’ll tell you if he can play or not, or if he can pitch. That’s the way it should be.

FoB Interview with San Diego Padres legend Randy Jones

The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies completed a 9-inning game in 1977 in 89 minutes. That will likely never happen again, but do you think the recent changes MLB made to pace-of-play are going to make much of a difference?

RJ: No, I don’t think they’ll make any difference whatsoever. The biggest difference you have today is that most pitchers aren’t geared to go late into ballgames. Teams have a 7th-inning guy, an 8th-inning guy, and then a closer.

In that game, the Phillies pulled Jim Kaat after the 7th. If they would have kept him in we could have finished the game in an hour and fifteen minutes I bet (laughs).

You both worked very, very quick, right? 

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RJ: Oh yeah, really quick. It was phenomenal to watch. Everybody jokes that Jim Kaat had tickets to a concert that night at San Diego Stadium. He got there in plenty of time.

You are a coach to young ballplayers. What’s the mantra you try to preach to them?

RJ: The first thing I teach them is that the best pitch in baseball is a strike. I remind them that a .300 hitter fails seven-out-of-ten times. The batter is going to get himself out most of the time, so just throw strikes.

Also, with young kids that are just starting in the game and have a passion for the game, I remind them the only way you’ll ever get good at anything, baseball included, is to fail.

That’s the biggest part of learning the game. Make a mistake, learn from it, and improve. That’s how we get better, by handling failure.

Once you understand what failure in baseball, it leads you to a whole other perspective. You can kick the dirt and get mad if you want.

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But the key is to learn and move on. You’re gonna fail in baseball. You gotta understand what it means, and as long as you get better, you keep moving on. If you can’t understand it, go play soccer or something (laughs).