Odell Jones of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on April 2, 1988, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Odell Jones, a journeyman Major League Baseball pitcher who was inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame this year, died in March at the age of 71.
Jones’ death was reported by Pittsburgh Baseball Now, which said he passed away on March 20 with no cause of death given.
A native of Tulare, Calif., Jones appeared in 201 games in Major League Baseball over nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers from 1975-88. He finished his career in 1992, appearing in five games with Triple-A Edmonton before heading to the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol for a brief stint in his final season.
Jones posted a 24-35 record in the MLB, throwing 549.1 innings with a 4.42 ERA, working mainly as a relief pitcher. Memorably, in a spot start in what would be his final season in the Majors, Jones made a spot start for the Brewers and took a perfect game into the eighth inning despite not having made a start in the Major Leagues since 1981.
The near-perfect game, which happened on May 28, 1988, against the Cleveland Indians, was broken up in the eighth when Jones walked Mel Hall. Ron Washington singled for the Indians in the ninth to deny Jones a no-hitter, and he was replaced by Dan Plesac, who got the final two outs in a 2-0 Milwaukee win.
In the winter leagues, Jones appeared in five Caribbean Series with four different teams, appearing on winter ball’s most prominent stage with Puerto Rico’s Vaqueros de Bayamon, Venezuela’s Tiburones de La Guaira, and the Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey and Aguilas Cibaenas.
He won the Caribbean Series in 1977 in Caracas, Venezuela, with the Tigres del Licey under manager Buck Rodgers, before going to Venezuela, where he played for the Tiburones de La Guaira from 1979-88. He appeared in three Liga Venezolana Beisbol Profesional championship series with La Guaira. He posted a 29-17 mark in 68 appearances with the Tiburones, with a 2.52 ERA and 393 strikeouts in 432.1 innings, according to pelotabinaria.com.ve, which maintains statistical records on the LVBP. He has the most wins of any import pitcher in La Guaira’s team history and the third-lowest ERA among foreign pitchers for the Tiburones behind Orlando Pena and Luis Tiant, who each hold a 2.27 ERA.
Jones was inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame during the 2024 event at loanDepot Park in Miami, though he was absent from the ceremony.