Baseball’s a Battle, but Tracy Jones Is Tired of Platooning

How do you spell relief ? Baseball player Tracy Jones spells it t-r-a-d-e .

The former Loyola Marymount University star was swapped from the Cincinnati Reds to the Montreal Expos during the All-Star break, and the outfielder who once professed undying fealty to Pete Rose told the press: “Even if (Expos manager) Buck Rodgers wants to come over every day and kick me in the mouth, it’s got to be a better situation.”

Six weeks after the Reds sent him packing across the border, Jones finds himself in much the same predicament he was in with the Reds as he struggles through his toughest season: fighting for playing time and trying to play hard on a wounded knee that needs surgery and has twice put him on the disabled list this season.

In his first visit to Dodger Stadium as an Expo last weekend, however, the Hawthorne resident clearly was relieved to be out of Cincinnati. “It’s totally different,” he said of the atmosphere with his new team. “They’re guys that want to go out and win as a team. They’re not as talented as the players Cincinnati puts out on the field, but they like each other a lot more. Everybody gets along here.”

Jones, a .301 career hitter who built a reputation as a Rose-colored hustler in two seasons with the Reds, hurt his knee running down a ball in foul territory in Cincinnati when he tripped over the bullpen mound. He played in only 37 of the Reds’ first 82 games and was batting .229 when he was traded.

Jones was spending much of the early season trading barbs with Rose, and in an interview just before the trade, Jones said, “Everybody’s got excuses. It’s not a real easy situation. Everybody wants to play. Last year at the (All-Star) break I was hitting .300 and I’m back platooning. Since then I’ve got 180 at-bats. I sat out eight weeks (after the knee injury) and I’m always off just a little bit.”

Jones, a right-hand hitter, had been playing less and less in the Reds’ overabundant outfield, platooning with left-hand-hitting Paul O’Neill, starting 15 games to O’Neill’s 54 in right field. The frustrated 27-year-old said: “I don’t really see myself starting here. Someday, Tracy Jones will get a chance to play somewhere, then we’ll get a chance to see what I can do. I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance here.”

A trade was on his mind--Pittsburgh was one rumor at mid-season--but the talkative Jones said then he wasn’t requesting a trade until after the season. “I’m just gonna’ go out and keep my mouth shut--which is sometimes hard to do--and try to go 100%,” he said.

But at the mention of Rose, Jones found it impossible not to comment. Rose, asked about platooning players at several positions, said: “A good athlete thrives on pressure. I don’t think you can just give somebody something if there’s somebody behind him who can play.”

Jones’ reply was to roll his eyes and say: “That’s Pete.”

Just before the trade Jones won two straight games by walking with the bases loaded in the last inning. The base-on-balls has never been a forte for Jones, who prefers to swing early and often. In fact, Rose had been harping on Jones’ habit of first-pitch swinging.

That draws another eye roll from Jones: “That’s just Pete, again. I got a .301 average in the big leagues. I made it to the big leagues swinging at first pitches.”

Jones, a first-round draft choice out of Loyola in January, 1983, hustled his way onto the Reds roster in 1986 after hitting better than .300 in three minor league stops. He batted .349 as a rookie but played in only 46 games, suffering a number of injuries, some stemming from his hard-sliding, wall-banging style. Last year he hit .290 and socked 10 home runs in 359 at-bats. He also stole 31 bases. Jones had been looking forward to playing regularly after the Reds traded Dave Parker over the winter. But the Reds’ long supply of talented young outfielders and his injury problems doomed Jones to part-time duty.

The trade, announced July 14, came as a surprise largely because Montreal had not been mentioned as a shopper. Another surprise was that the Expos traded for outfielder Dave Martinez from the Cubs on the same day. Jones has played better as an Expo (wearing his old Loyola uniform number, 24), hitting .317 to raise his season average to .266, but he has played in only 24 games and started only 13.

Estimating that his knee is “about 80%,” the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Jones had had trouble generating power--with only two home runs and 12 RBIs this season--and was bemoaning his lack of infield hits as well playing time.

Expos broadcaster Ken Singleton, a former Montreal star, noted, “He runs like a deer. I thought he’d hit more homers. He looks like Tarzan.”

“The way the team is managed, I have no complaints,” Jones said. “(Rodgers) is just a straightforward guy and tells you what your role is. (But) if you don’t play every day you’re not going to have the numbers. I’ve been platooned in left, then been platooned in right. Now I’m being platooned in center. Missing eight weeks shot down my season.”

Jones has planned surgery for his knee after the season, then he’ll come back to try to recapture the fiery, cocky attitude that made him the National League’s “most hated player” among his peers in an unofficial preseason poll by USA Today.

That’s a tag Rose often wore as a player, but Jones doesn’t want that comparison. “I’m a lot different than Pete personality-wise,” he said. “I don’t purposely try to do things to antagonize people. The guys here (Expos) told me, ‘We thought you were a jerk.’ Just to show you how it works, the first time we went back to Cincinnati the players there all hated me.”

But for now, Jones--of whom Rose once said, “once he’s dirty his night is complete and he’s ready to go”--can only bide his time, playing every third or fourth day, mostly sitting on the bench and keeping his uniform clean. By his standards, as much Charlie’s Angel as Charlie Hustle.

“I’ll get my chance somewhere,” he vows. “I still feel I’m an everyday player.”