Clarence Jones Is a Hit as Coach With Braves

He’s known simply as C.J. He played briefly in the major leagues, captured two home run titles in Japan, helped a Mexican League team win a pennant and worked for comedian Redd Foxx.

But no one in Atlanta had heard of Clarence Jones until David Justice blossomed with the Braves.

“He’s a player who has given me a lot of credit,” said Jones, the Braves batting instructor.

Justice, Jones’ prize pupil, hit .282 with 28 homers and 78 RBI last season and was voted the National League Rookie of the Year. Justice was hitting .297 with 11 homers and 51 RBI before going on the disabled list this year.

“He made a big impact on me,” Justice said. “C.J. does his homework. It’s like having an extra set of eyes. He keeps me on track.”

Jones also tutored Ronnie Gant, who hit .303 with 32 homers and 84 RBI last year and is among the league leaders in homers this season.

“He’s been a big help to me over the last couple of years,” said Gant. “He’s intelligent, and he’s a good hitting instructor. That’s why he’s here.”

Jones’ success with Justice and several other Atlanta hitters has enhanced his reputation among his peers and his name recognition.

But the road to a second chance in the major leagues was a rocky one.

There were stops in Johnson City, Tenn., Kokomo, Ind., Artesia, N.M., Great Falls, Mont., Santa Barbara, Calif., Albuquerque, N.M., Salem, Ore., Tacoma, Wash., and Dallas-Fort Worth before two brief flings in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1967-68.

After being demoted to Indianapolis in 1969, Jones was courted by the Japanese and found stardom there.

“Heck, they doubled my salary. So I said I’d play one year and come back. But that one year lasted eight years,” recalled the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Jones, who turns 50 this year. He won home run titles two consecutive seasons there, hitting 38 in 1974 and 39 in 1975, and wound up with 250 in his eight seasons there.

When he returned to the United States, he played a year in the Mexican League. “Even though I had a good year and they wanted me back, I had had enough of playing. My knees were killing me,” said Jones.

So that was it. No more baseball. Jones went back to college and studied real estate, criminology and economics.

He also got a job with Foxx as a booking agent and jack-of-all trades for the comedian, who had a stable of 28 singers and entertainers. It was Jones’ job to try to find jobs for them.

“But, in all honesty, it wasn’t me. I had to wear a suit and tie, go to luncheons and parties,” said Jones. That lasted about six months, but the baseball itch still remained.

So he sent out resumes and waited. Three years later, Hank Aaron, then head of the Braves’ farm system, offered him a job as roving batting instructor for the 1984 season.

“I started at the bottom in the instructional league and was the roving batting instructor for their minor league teams in Sumter, S.C., Durham, N.C., and Greenville, S.C.,” said Jones.

In 1985 he was promoted to the major leagues under then-Braves’ manager Eddie Haas in mid-season.

“It was a great feeling,” said Jones. “It was a dream come true. It meant more at that point. I thought I had something to offer, to give back this time. The first time, I was no different than any other young player.”

But when Haas was fired and Chuck Tanner was named manager in 1985, Jones found himself back in the minors again as roving batting instructor.

He was back to the majors again in 1988 when Tanner was replaced by Russ Nixon, and remained when Bobby Cox took over as manager a year ago.

Jones said he has never had a problem with players not listening to him because he played only briefly in the major leagues, hitting .248 in 58 games with the Cubs.

“They trust me. They believe in me. But it didn’t start with them in the majors. It started in the minors,” said Jones. “I know a lot about hitting. When I was with the Cubs, I roomed with (Hall of Fame outfielder) Billy Williams. In 1967 when I broke camp with the Cubs and went to Chicago, he bought a big house there and asked me to move in with him.

“We were together all the time,” he said. “He was really a great student of hitting. He talked hitting when we woke up in the morning, driving to the ball park and afterward when we got home. I still call him every now and then for advice.”

Jones likes to videotape hitters, something he picked up in Japan, where he said they even tape practices.

“I think one video is worth more than a thousand words,” he said. The Braves tape every game, take all the players’ good at-bats and separate them from the not-so-good at-bats.

“Then they can see exactly what they’re doing different,” said Jones, who takes the tapes home after each game and watches them for hours.

“C.J. has the respect of all our hitters,” said Cox. “He has done a great job for us. Period.

“C.J. only played a little bit in the major leagues, but he always could hit. He showed that in Japan and in the minor leagues, and he’s one heck of a hitting instructor.”