Carl Jones
| Date and Place of Birth: | 1892 Oakland, CA |
| Date and Place of Death: | October 1918 France |
| Baseball Experience: | Semi-Pro |
| Position: | Infield |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | Company K, 363rd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division US Army |
| Area Served: | France |
Carl C. Jones, the son of Mr. and Mrs. F.S. Jones,
was born in Oakland, California in 1892, and was a well-known baseball
player in the local area. During the summer of 1914, he played second
base for Bill Glavin’s Federals team which participated in a four-team
league that played under artificial lights – still quite a novelty at
that time.
During the winter of 1914/15, he played for the Dreier & Nevis team in
the Oakland Merchant’s League. Then, during the summer of 1915, he
played in the Carbon-Emery League in Utah, a league made up of coal
mining teams. Jones led that circuit with a .387 batting average. Back
in Oakland in October 1915, he was signed by the Maxwell Hardware
Company to play in the highly competitive semi-pro Oakland Tribune
Midwinter League. Jones, played shortstop, second base and third base
and was among the most exciting players in the league that season. His
teammates that year included Carl Zamloch, who had pitched for the
Detroit Tigers in 1913 and remained in minor league baseball into the
1930s; Tom Fitzsimmons, who would play for Brooklyn in 1919; Ralph
Croll, who would go on to play for the Oakland Oaks and Joe Devine, who
had made a couple of appearances with the Oaks that summer,
“Carl Jones is certainly a wonderful little ball player,” declared the
Oakland Tribune on March 16, 1916. “He has been one of the mainstays of
the Maxwell Hardware Co. team all season and has been playing a great
article of ball at shortstop and second base. He is one ball player that
can be relied upon in the pinch, whether it is the need of a hit or sure
fielding, he is always there. Carl will probably leave Oakland for the
summer. He has a couple of propositions, but has not decided which one
to take as yet.”
In fact, Jones did remain in Oakland at the start of 1916, a lucrative
offer was made by the Ambrose Tailors team, but that was to be
short-lived as he soon found his way to Jackson in Amador County,
California, where he played throughout the summer. He joined Alameda in
the Midwinter League in November 1916, then was appointed manager of the
newly-formed Exeter Athletics in March 1917.
Carl Jones, aged 25, entered military service in September 1917, and was
assigned to Camp Lewis at American Lake, near Tacoma, Washington. He
served with Company K of the 363rd Infantry Regiment and in April 1918,
he asked the folks in Oakland for bats, gloves and uniforms to help him
organize some ball teams. The Oakland Tribune responded by arranging
benefit shows at Pantages Theater with all proceeds being used to buy
equipment for troops.
Jones played shortstop for the 363rd Regiment baseball team at American
Lake, but the season was short-lived as the regiment, as part of the
91st Division, was on its way overseas and arrived in France in June
1918.
Sergeant Carl Jones was killed in action during the Battle of the
Argonne Forest in October 1918. He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery
in Oakland, California.
Sources
Oakland Tribune, July 12, 1914
Oakland Tribune, February 14, 1915
Oakland Tribune, May 4, 1915
Oakland Tribune, October 30, 1915
Oakland Tribune, November 14, 1915
Oakland Tribune, September 26, 1915
Oakland Tribune, January 9, 1916
Oakland Tribune, March 19, 1916
Oakland Tribune, May 14, 1916
Oakland Tribune, June 11, 1916
Oakland Tribune, November 19, 1916
Oakland Tribune, March 3, 1917
Oakland Tribune, April 28, 1918
Oakland Tribune, June 7, 1918
Oakland Tribune, November 8, 1918
Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with photos for this biography.
Date Added: September 8, 2013. Updated July 30, 2017
Can you add more information to this biography and help make it the best online resourse for this player? Contact us by email
Read Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Through The Years - an online year-by-year account of military related deaths of ballplayers
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
