Fielder Jones began his career in the National League and played for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (later called the Superbas). In the winter of 1900, he signed with the White Sox and joined the upstart American League. He was the White Sox best hitter in the league’s inaugural season and he helped the White Sox win their first pennant that year. Two years later, the White Sox had dropped deep into second division of the American League and in 1904, Jones was tapped as the White Sox manager.
Player/managers were a lot more common back then and the team gradually improved under Jones. They finished in third place in 1904, which was the year Jones took over for Nixey Callahan. In 1905, the White Sox finished in second place and then in 1906, Fielder Jones led the team to their first World Series title.
By 1906, Jones hitting ability was beginning to regress although he kept up with the rest of the league. He finished the season with a .230 batting average, and ironically that was also the team’s batting average as well. But he finished second in the league in walks and ended up with a slightly above average OPS+ of 106.
The other thing Fielder Jones was good at, and he instilled this into his team, was bunting. He led the league in sac. hits in 1904 with 36 and in 1906, he was sixth in the league (behind two teamates) with 30. This team couldn’t hit, so it had to make its baserunners count and the team led the American League with 226 sac. hits.
Fielder Jones was also an excellent centerfielder. 1906 was the second of four consecutive seasons that Fielder Jones would finish with at least 25 Fielding Runs Above Average. In 1906, he had 23 outfield assists and only four errors.
If you want to read more about Fielder Jones, I highly recommend you check out his biography at SABR’s Baseball Biography Project website.
Here are Jones’ numbers in 1906
Games 144
AB 496
Runs 77
Hits 114
Doubles 22
Triples 4
Homeruns 2
RBIs 34
Walks 83
Strikeouts ??
Stolen Bases 26
Caught Stealing ??
BA .230
OBA .346
SLG% .302
OPS .648
RC 70
RCAA 12
RCAP 3
RC/G 4.42
ISO .073
