Interview with Ruppert Jones
Marcus Guy: How did it feel winning a Championship, as mentioned, against your former team the Padres?
Ruppert Jones: This is what happened in 1984. I was a free agent, and nobody picked me up. The Pittsburgh Pirates called me to come to Spring Training. This is on Friday. They wanted me on the field on Sunday morning. So, I left California on Saturday. I pulled into the Bradenton complex (home of the Pirates minor league affiliate). I pulled in at about 11 o’clock at night and I was on the field the next day at 9:00. And so, I was a non-rostered player. Non-rostered means I made all the bus trips and I played all the ‘B’ games at nine, ten o’clock in the morning. So, every time the bus went somewhere, I was on it. When we were in Bradenton, I played the ‘B’ game and then after the ‘B’ game, I went over to The Big Field and I played in the regular game in the last two or three innings. Well, in the morning games, I got to be around Willie Stargell and work with Willie Stargell, and that was probably one of the biggest highlights of my career. I had a bunch of them, but that was a big highlight. I got to work with Willie Stargell on a daily basis. And I had a really good spring training. I hit about .360 that spring.
Chuck Tanner (Pirates manager) called me into his office one day and said “Rupert, you’ve done a tremendous job for us, but you haven’t hit any home runs. We want to see you start to hit home runs.” So, the next day, I hit a home run. Two days later, I hit another home run and then we play the game in Bradenton and I pinched hit or I came to hit in the eighth inning, and I hit a home run to straightaway center field. So, I had hit three home runs in like six days. When I was rounding third base, Chuck Tanner was looking at me, and he was smiling. Well, a couple of days later he called me to his office. He said, “I’ve got to do the hardest thing I’ve ever done in baseball.” He said, “We can’t keep you,” He said, “we’ve got some contracts we can’t get rid of and we got to pay these guys, so I can’t keep you.” I said “Chuck. Thank you very much for the opportunity,” and I went home. And I was at home for about three weeks.
The Tigers that year got off to an ungodly start. They came out to shoot (They started the season 35-5). It was in the middle of April, and my agent called me, and he said, “You’ve got an offer to play”. He said, “you’ll never believe it.” I said “What? Who was it?” He said “The Detroit Tigers.” I said, “What do they need me for?” They were off the chart. He said, “well, they want you, and they want you to be in the AAA in two days.” So, I packed up again and headed to Triple-A. I started out slow but then I picked it up. I got really good and I was hitting the ball really well. My contract said that if I’m not in the big league by June, I could opt out and go somewhere else if somebody wanted me.”
I was playing well and AAA. I was playing really well, and the Tigers came to me, I think it was May 28th, and they said, “We know you have a contract that you can opt-out of on June 1st and we would like to bring you up to Detroit, however, we have to do some things in order get you here. It’s going to take us a few days to do it.” So, my agent said, “well you’ve got more offers over here. This team wants you and that team wants you.” I said, “yeah, but that team (the Tigers), they gave me a chance.” So, I said, “tell them I stay in Triple-A with them”. So, I stayed in Triple-A, and then on June 6th, jumped back into the big leagues.
MG: What about that team was so special?
Rupe: I played with some really good guys in Detroit. They were warriors. I really enjoyed playing ball with them. These guys came to play, and so every night when you came to the ballpark, you had to be ready to play, and we played hard every night. Every night was like a war to us. So, when we got to the World Series, the playoffs, we didn’t care. Whoever we played was going to have a hard time. I look back on that team, and as I mentioned, we just celebrated the 35th anniversary, and I’ll admit it, it was like “WOW!” It was like ‘Deja vu all over again’. We had a chance to have dinner together, and we talked, and we got to interact, and amazingly, the team chemistry was still there.
MG: Who was your favorite teammate?
Rupe: Willy Horton. I played with Willy Horton in 1979 when I was in Seattle. Best teammate. A lot of guys will say that; Willie Horton was my favorite teammate.
MG: You still follow baseball, and as an old-school guy- who is your favorite player to watch right now?
Rupe: Mike Trout without a doubt. He plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. When he hits the ball, infielders and outfielders have got to get rid of the ball because he runs hard and is always looking to take the next base.
Marcus Guy: Thank you, Rupe, for taking the time to answer a few questions!
Ruppert Jones: It was my pleasure!