7th Inning Jones

One of the more lighthearted heckling targets of the mid-80's left field bleacher scene in Oakland was a backup Kansas City outfielder named Lynn Jones. (alternate stat site) Jones gained a nickname amongst the bleacher faithful, coined by John if I remember correctly, due to his completely predictable use as a late inning defensive replacement. He simply played left field every game, but only at the end of the game. So, John gave him the nickname of "Seventh Inning Jones." We heckled him and let him know every game just where he stood; he was not a star or even a starter. Jones had little choice but to accept the label and be content with our antics. He even enjoyed the attention, so we let up a bit and he became one of the fun targets of our crew.

In fact, here is a string of box scores for five consecutive Royals games in Oakland in 1985 (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5), and two more at the end of 1986 (#4 and #5) that show Jones as a late inning left field replacement.