Jones Looks to Follow in Brothers’ Footsteps : El Segundo Slugger Hopes to Keep Up Tradition of Playing Pro Baseball

To hear his brothers tell it, Heath Jones should take what pro baseball scouts say only half-seriously.

Sure, says Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tracy Jones, Heath should run out everything hard because he’ll never know who is watching.

And yeah, says Kansas City Royals minor leaguer Terry Jones, Heath can expect to be drafted high with his 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame and his power-hitting hands that hammered five home runs for El Segundo High in just eight preseason games.

But Tracy stressed: “The scouts really don’t know as much as they think they know.” So come June, if Heath is drafted in a low round or offered a mediocre signing bonus or not drafted at all, he shouldn’t be surprised or discouraged.

Despite all-CIF honors in football, basketball and baseball at Lawndale High, Tracy wasn’t drafted out of high school. Instead, he played three years of baseball at Loyola Marymount University. After his junior year, he was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Mets, who offered him only enough money to make him realize that he should drop out of school and wait for the January, 1983, draft, when he signed with the Reds.

A year later, after one year at El Camino College and two at San Diego State, Terry was selected by the Angels in the 10th round and accepted a $15,000 signing bonus but asked California to release him in 1986. Three months later, the Royals gave him a job, and the following year he broke team records for hits and doubles in a season for Fort Myers of the Florida State League.

“Scouts have no respect for me,” Terry said, “but if they can’t see that Heath is a first-round pick, they don’t belong in scouting. If he is not a top pick, I don’t know who is.”

Heath, a first baseman who also pitches, said if the money is right, he’ll turn pro after he graduates in June.

It’s living in the shadows of his brothers--especially Tracy--that makes him crave stardom.

“When I came to high school, I couldn’t wait for the chance to do the things Tracy did,” Heath said. “I wanted to get the MVP in baseball as a sophomore, like he did, and I wanted to make all-CIF in three sports, like he did. And I want to be playing (pro) ball just like them.”

Heath has been named all-CIF in football and baseball. He hit .370 with three home runs and 35 RBI as a sophomore, and as a junior he batted .448 with nine homers and a school-record 48 RBI.

This season, batting behind a .522 hitter in all-CIF soccer player Jeremy Varner and in front of a .467 cleanup hitter in catcher Jose Sanchez, Jones helped the Eagles to a 5-3 start with 12 hits and 18 RBI in 22 at-bats, including a towering grand slam that propelled El Segundo to a 13-4 win over Dominguez High last weekend.

Still, his parents keep him hungry. “They keep feeding me information about what Tracy did at my age,” Jones said, “and if I start slacking off, they let me know.”

It isn’t surprising that Jones’ statistics rival those of his brothers since all three used to compete in pick-up games. Even now, “we still play for hours when we’re together,” Tracy said, “and we’re still good for at least two fights a year.”

Heath always stood out when he stood up, looking almost like a coach in his Little League pictures. “Heath is six years younger than me and he tears me up on the basketball court,” said Terry, 24, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound first baseman. “You would think you’d have to ease up on your little brother but it was never like that, and that was good for Heath.”

“It put me a step ahead of everyone else,” Heath said.

Terry, who will play AA ball at Memphis this season, now tells Heath of how minor league teams make players just uncomfortable enough to think about getting to the big leagues. And Tracy has introduced Heath to the likes of Reds Manager Pete Rose and All-Star Eric Davis.

The Jones family rarely strays from competition. In two weeks Heath will take a break from sports, vacationing for the first time since he started high school. “I’m going to Cincinnati to see Tracy play opening day,” he said.

Tracy admits that “the only thing (the Joneses) really know how to do is sports.” And, though Heath anchored a defensive line that boosted the El Segundo football team to the Southern Section’s Northwest Conference semifinals last fall and pulled down rack-fulls of rebounds at center for the basketball team, which qualified for the 3-A playoffs this winter, the only thing he really wants to do is play baseball.

If Heath can hit in the major leagues, Tracy said, he’ll make it. But “I really don’t have a position,” Heath said. “I’m really just a hitter. Every time scouts see me, it seems like it’s at a different position.”

What position should he play?

His preference is outfield because he said the ball seems to come at him too quickly at first base. And his pitching numbers--11-3 last year with 2.70 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 88 innings and 6-2 in 1986 with a O.97 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 72 innings--suggest a future on the mound.

But one local major league scout, who asked that his name and team not be identified, said Jones’ 80 m.p.h velocity isn’t good enough and that he probably will not be a high draft pick.

“He can throw a lot harder than he has, in my opinion, and he should,” the scout said, adding that Jones should use his power-hitting prowess to fall back on should he falter the mound.

“If he wants to concentrate on first base,” the scout said, “he has to hit for power, but you live and die by the bat. He needs to pitch and pitch a lot.”

It seems unlikely Jones will continue pitching after this season, however. He started slow on the mound and prefers doing what he did to Dominguez.

“I have never seen a ball hit so hard,” Dominguez Coach Rich Narcisse said of Jones’ grand slam. “I think he is perfect first base material with his size. I don’t see why he can’t be a major leaguer.”

Palos Verdes Coach Gil Eberhard, whose team lost both games of double-header to El Segundo as Jones went 3 for 6 with two home runs and seven RBI, agreed but also wondered about where Jones should play.

“Some teams may want to draft him as a catcher,” offered Eberhard.

Jim Jones, Heath’s father, made that assessment years ago when he coached Heath. “He is a catcher,” Jim said. “He caught in Little League, Pony League and Babe Ruth League, and I would like to have seen him catch in high school. Of course, catching usually takes away from your offense. I know when he pitches it hurts his arm and catching could hurt.”

Jim, 49, who played two years in the Boston Red Sox organization, said that Terry plays first base better than most major leaguers, that Tracy needed several breaks to reach the majors and that he has never seen an 18-year-old hit the ball as hard as Heath does. Jim also said that few people are as critical of his sons as he is.

“Some scouts will like Heath and some won’t,” Jim concluded.

Those who do might persuade their teams to draft and offer Jones a substantial bonus, thinking he could become another Jose Canseco or Mark McGuire, Oakland Athletics who earned respective back-to-back Rookie of the Year honors for their power hitting.

Choosing to accept a signing bonus over a college scholarship depends most on the money, Terry said.

“If Heath were offered $60,000 to sign (a pro contract) and a scholarship to USC,” Terry said, “he might be better off going to USC. But if he were offered $120,000, he’d have to take it no matter what because he might never see that kind of money again, and you never know what could happen to him in college.”

Success is something only Tracy has tasted. Terry said he might wait until he is 29 for a shot at the majors because he could play until 35.

“Playing minor league baseball is no ego trip, “ he said. “I don’t go around saying I play for the Royals. Either I’m gonna make it to the majors or it doesn’t count.”

El Segundo Coach John Stevenson, who coached Ken and George Brett, thinks Heath is well on his way to the majors.

“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever had,” Stevenson said. “He’s right there with the Bretts.”

Heath is also realistic.

“I don’t want to be one of those people who will take the $5,000 when they’re drafted, play minor league ball for one year, have a bad year and be sent home the next year,” he said. “If I’m not drafted in a high round, then I’ll look at college.”