Chris Jones: 1990's Mets Player with Five Walk Off Hits (1995 - 1996)

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Christopher Carlos Jones was born on December 16th, 1965, in Utica, New York. The six-foot, two right hand hitting outfielder, attended Liverpool High School, where he was signed as a third-round draft pick for the Cincinnati Reds in 1984. 

Chris spent eight years in the minor leagues before making it to the Reds in 1991. 
In 1991 he spent time between Cincinnati & the minors leagues hitting two HRs for the Reds that September. In December he was released & then signed with the Houston Astros. 

In 1992 he played with Houston through July hitting just .190, getting sent back down to AAA
Tuscon. He was granted free agency & then signed on with the Colorado Rockies.

On June 6th, Jones had big day, hitting two HRs in a loss at Philadelphia. In 86 games he hit 6 HRs with 11 doubles & 31 RBIs while batting .273. 

 In 1994 he spent parts of May thru June with the Rockies batting .300 in 21 games. At AAA Colorado Springs he hit 20 HRs while driving in 75 runs. He was granted free agency at the end of the season & signed on with the New York Mets.

 Mets Career: In 1995 Jones began the season at AAA Norfolk, where he hit .333 in 33 games which got him a promotion to the Mets big league team by mid-May. 

 Jones debuted as a Met on May 16th, 1995, getting a base hit in his first at bat. In that game he scored the only run in a Bobby Jones 1-0 shut out over the Houston Astros. 
Starting on May 26th, Jones hit HRs in consecutive games during a home stand with the San Francisco Giants. In the first game he hit a solo HR off Terry Mulholland in a Mets loss. On May 28th, Jones homered off Mark Portugal in another Mets loss.

Walk Off HR: On May 31st, Jones had one of his finest Mets moments, as he hit a 10th inning walk off HR against the Padres Trevor Hoffman, in a 6-5 Mets comeback win. 

Jones was producing for New York as he kept his average up at .338 at the end of June, closing out the month with a three run HR off Randy Veres in Florida in an 8-3 Mets win over the Marlins. 

In mid-July Jones drove in runs in six of seven games. On July 19th he hit an eighth inning HR off Rene Arocha in St. Louis, tying up the game which led to a Mets extra inning win over the Cardinals. 

 Walk Off Hits: On July 29th, he got his second walk off Mets game winning HR of the season, this time off the Pirates Ross Powell in a 2-1 Mets victory. 
On August 24th, Jones had another walk off hit, as he came in as a pinch hitter against the San Diego Padres. 
The Mets entered the 9th inning down 4-2, but tied it up against Trevor Hoffman, knocking him out of the game. As Jones came up pinch hitting for Don Florence, he singled home Ryan Thompson with the game winning run. 

 In September he saw less playing time, finishing the year batting .280 with 8 HRs six doubles, 31 RBIs with a .327 on base % & .794 OPS for the second place Mets. 

1996: On Opening Day Chris appeared as a pinch hitter, coming through with an RBI single off the Cardinals Rick Honeycutt in the four run Mets seventh inning. The Mets went on to a 7-6 win. 

 Walk Off HR: On April 23rd, Jones had his first walk off HR of the new season, a two-run shot off the Cincinnati Reds Jeff Shaw, in an 8-6 Met win. 

 On June 1st his sixth inning sac fly brought home what turned out to be the winning run in a 4-3 win over the L.A. Dodgers. 

 Another Walk Off HR: On July 31st Jones came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning of a tie game facing the Pirates, Dan Pleasac. With one on & one out, Jones connected with a two-run walk off HR giving the Mets a 3-2 win. 

 Jones was mostly used as a pinch hitter the rest of the season finishing up with a .242 average, hitting four HRs with seven doubles & 18 RBIs playing in 89 games. 

Although he had many late inning heroic hits, Jones was let go to free agency. 

For 1997 he signed on with the San Diego Padres playing in 92 games with 7 HRs 25 RBIs & a .243 average. In 1998 he played his last MLB season playing with both the Arizona Diamond backs (20 games) & San Francisco Giants (43 games). 

Career Stats: In a nine-year career Jones batted .252 with 257 hits 30 HRs 43 doubles 11 triples 131 RBIs. He struck out 287 times with 74 walks posting a .303 on base % & .707 OPS.

 Retirement: Jones played for the Independent League Newark Bears where he eventually became the team's manager. In 2007 he managed an independent team in South Carolina.

Family: Chris & his wife Crystal have two children. They reside in Phoenix, Arizona.

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