110 Greatest Baseball Players

94.  RHP Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers

Jones first gained attention when he was drafted in the first round by Houston in 1989.  He emerged as a top prospect in 1992.  Jones was again named a top prospect before cracking the Majors and being suspended for five games for throwing at Dennis Martinez in 1993.  He went to the Tigers in 1997.  In 2000, he played in the All-Star Game and led the American League in saves.  He was traded to Minnesota in 2001.  He played for Colorado in 2002.  He split 2003 between Colorado and Boston.  He split 2004 between Philadelphia and Cincinnati.  He played for Florida in 2005.  He went back to the Tigers in 2006.  He recorded his 300th career save in 2007.  He played one more season for the Tigers before retiring.  Jones was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame for his career at Jacksonville State.  He is also known for his weekly column in The Sporting News.  He finished his career with 319 saves.  He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Honorable Mention:

OF Tom Brown, Louisville Colonels

Brown began his career with Baltimore (then of the American Association) in 1882.  He went to the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association in 1883.  He went to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the American Association in 1885 and stayed with the team when they moved to the National League in 1887, although he was traded to the Indianapolis Hoosiers that same year.  He went to the Boston Beaneaters in 1888.  He went to the Boston Reds of the Players League in 1890 and stayed with the team when they moved to the American Association in 1891.  He went to the Louisville Colonels in 1892.  He spent 1895 between the St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators.  He spent three more seasons with the Washington Senators before retiring.  Brown finished his career with 697 stolen bases.  Unfortunately for him the American Association didn't start keeping track of stolen bases as a stat until 1886, and by that time he'd played four seasons in that league.  To make matters worse, he played a little over a fifth of his career in rival leagues to the National League (such as the American Association and the Players League) which failed miserably.  In addition, the only team that he played on that still exists today is Baltimore, most of the teams he played on didn't make it to the 20th Century, of the few that did most never saw the live ball, and of those most folded shortly thereafter.  Also, he retired over 35 years before the Hall of Fame was invented and died several years before then and was forgotten by most historians of that time.  Needless to say, it's hard to judge a player like Brown.  He stole a tremendous amount of stolen bases, even for the dead ball era.  Obviously, he deserves an honorable mention.