At 6’6”, the towering Jones was a dominant pitching force in the mid-1930’s. In 1934, after being traded to the Philadelphia Stars, Jones posted a 32-4 record and, on the strength of his fastball, took his team to the Negro National League Championship virtually by himself. That same year Jones squared off against Satchel Paige in a game at Yankee Stadium, which has been hailed as the best black baseball game of all time. Jones pitched a flawless game for 6 innings before giving up just three hits and Paige struck out 12 batters to Jones’s 9. With the game tied 1-1 in the 10th inning it had to be called due to darkness.
But only a year later Jones began to falter. His demands for more money, combined with lackluster performances on the mound, due in large part to his drinking, added to his decline. In the winter of 1938, with his arm shot, Jones sought an advance, and when it was refused, he sold his overcoat for a bottle of whiskey. He contracted pneumonia and died shortly thereafter. The vintage billboard ads behind him in this work reference his tragic end.