Their number increased by one that afternoon. Bobby Jones, who played for Park Exxon from 1982 through 1984, made his major league debut that Sunday.
Jones, a left-handed pitcher, made his inaugural big-league start for the Colorado Rockies at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets, the team Jones rooted for during his Little League days. He came away with no decision in a 5 1/3-inning appearance in a game the Mets won in the 8th inning.
A large contingent of Rutherford fans made the short drive to Flushing Meadow Park (Queens, N.Y.) for the afternoon game, even as his old Little League continued its regular schedule.
Five days later, Jones made his first appearance at Coors Field, the Rockies’ home. This time, he came away with his first major-league victory, going 6 2/3 innings as the Rockies defeated the Houston Astros, 8-7.
After two more starts in 1997, Jones returned to Colorado Springs for additional seasoning. He made the Rockies’ roster again at the start of the 1998 season, working out of manager Don Baylor’s bullpen, and he raised eyebrows with 6 1/3 innings of one-hit ball in two appearances against the Atlanta Braves in April. On 24-May, he returned as a starter and hurled seven innings, allowing one run on just two hits, in a 3-1 victory over Cincinnati.
Jones graduated from Rutherford High School in 1990. After spending a year at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted him into their system.
The Rockies picked up Jones’ contract in the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December 1994. He split his 1995 season between the Class AA New Haven Ravens and the Class AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
Jones remained at Colorado Springs in 1996, posting a 2-8 mark, but he improved that to 5-1 in 1997, prompting the Rockies to call him up when veteran pitcher Bill Swift went on the disabled list.
Jones thrived under Rockies manager Don Baylor, but grew increasingly dissatisfied playing the 1999 season in the altitude of Denver without Baylor at the helm. The Rockies satisfied his trade request 13-Jan-2000, shipping him to the Mets along with a minor leaguer in return for Masato Yoshii. That gave the Mets two pitchers named Bobby Jones on their roster; the other Jones, a right-hander from California born in 1970, left the club after the 2000 season.
Rutherford’s Jones spent the 2001 season on the disabled list, but came back to the Mets in 2002 before being traded to the Padres, ironically becoming reunited there with Bobby J. Jones. He spent 2003 in Triple-A, starting with Richmond (Braves) and finishing at Omaha (Royals). He was a non-roster invitee at 2004 Boston Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers and made the big club from there but then went into rehabilitation. After a brief stint with the independent Newark Bears in 2005, the Chicago White Sox picked him up and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte. In 2006, he pitched for the Erie SeaWolves, a Detroit Tigers affiliate.
The other three Rutherford Little Leaguers to play in the majors were Bill Hands, Brant Alyea, and Pat Pacillo.
Rutherford Little League salutes Bobby Jones on his tenure in Major League Baseball.