Turning back the clock ⏰️ to just over 50 years ago, there was a 10 year old Navy Brat that was falling in love with the game of baseball ⚾️ but now found himself in rural South Georgia, far from his beloved Oakland Athletics.
Dad was stationed in Lemoore, California, when I was born back in 1963, so it was a natural thing to pull for the Oakland A’s and wow, Was that a fun bunch of personalities. Even the owner, Charles Finley, was larger than life itself.
Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Gene Tennace, Bert ” Campy ” Campanaris were some of the stars in the field while Jim ” Catfish ” Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue and others toed the rubber. Finley tried to get Vida to legally change his first name to True so he could call him True Blue.
South of Lemoore was an expansion team called the San Diego Padres.
San Diego is a beautiful place, and they were owned for a long time by the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc. There was a man with a business plan !
The Padres were never going to replace the A’s as my childhood team, but they did have a tall, lanky left-hander that was fun to watch. Randy Jones was a character, and maybe part of that at first was his larger than life afro and how it grew out under his cap.
While I can not back it up as absolute, check out the three year stretch where Jones went from losing twenty games to winning 20+ in the following two seasons. Incredible turnaround, and if anyone else has ever done it, I would like to hear about it.
Jones was a rookie back in the early 70s, and he wasn’t the only one. Fresh from Marshall University, by way of a brief stint in the minors, was Joe Goddard. My favorite part of calling a Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball game is saying Assistant Coach, the legendary Joe Goddard.
Goddard and Jones were teammates in 1972 in the Texas League, playing for Alexandria. Goddard would get the call up later that season, and Jones would get the same in the spring of 1973.
Joe has stories about how Jones threw a ” heavy ball ” back then, and while the lefty found some success, he was hindered by the Padres’ struggles. Check out the year he had in 1978, with an ERA of 2.88, Jones finished up at 13 – 14 on the season.
This past winter, Jones received his final call-up as he passed away in November. The tribute that the team held 40 years past his playing days showed that I wasn’t the only one who found Jones as lovable.
Meanwhile, Joe Goddard and I are hopeful of being around for a while yet. The added connection of the catcher who made it to the show and worked with one of my childhood heroes.
The things in the life of the Legendary Joe Goddard that pop 🎉 are much more than sharing a batters box 📦 with Hank Aaron or catching Randy Jones. The lifetime experience of teaching the game of baseball, still today as he is closer to 80 than 70, is the tip of the iceberg.
Rest in peace, Randy Jones, and thanks for the memories !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 