Cowboy Jones

{{Short description|American baseball player (1874–1958)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Cowboy Jones

|position=Pitcher

|image=Cowboy Jones (1) Portland Browns.jpeg

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date|1874|8|23|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Golden, Colorado, US

|death_date={{death date and age|1958|2|9|1874|8|23}}

|death_place=Inglewood, California, US

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=June 24

|debutyear={{By|1898}}

|debutteam=Cleveland Spiders

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 21

|finalyear={{By|1901}}

|finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=25–34

|stat2label=Strikeouts

|stat2value=147

|stat3label=Earned run average

|stat3value=3.63

|teams=

• Cleveland Spiders (1898)
• St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals (1899–1901)

}}

Albert Edward "Cowboy" "Bronco" Jones (August 23, 1874 – February 9, 1958) was a professional baseball pitcher. He pitched one full season and parts of three others in Major League Baseball from 1898 until 1901 for the Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals.

Born August 23, 1874, in Golden, Colorado Territory,{{cite web |title=Cowboy Jones Stats |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesco01.shtml |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=3 June 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513200207/https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesco01.shtml |archivedate=13 May 2020 |language=en}} Jones pitched collegiately for the Colorado School of Mines in 1894-1895.{{Cite news|title=The Colorado Transcript|date=April 18, 1894|via=coloradohistoricnewspapers.org}}{{Cite news|title=The Colorado Transcript|date=April 25, 1894|via=coloradohistoricnewspapers.org}}{{Cite news|title=The Colorado Transcript|date=May 4, 1895|via=coloradohistoricnewspapers.org}}{{Cite news|title=The Colorado Transcript|date=May 25, 1895|via=coloradohistoricnewspapers.org}} He has a known college record of 5-1 with 1 no decision, and 1 save if such a statistic had been kept, pitching 65 innings. This includes a 16-strikeout game against the University of Colorado at Golden on May 4, 1895 and an 11-strikeout performance against CU at Boulder on May 25, 1895.

Jones began his professional career in 1896 with the Pueblo Rovers of the Colorado State League and made his major league debut on June 24, 1898 with the Cleveland Spiders. Jones was the first player born in Colorado to play in the major leagues, and the only one who played in the 19th century.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/CO_born.shtml List of MLB players born in Colorado] In 1899, the Spiders' owners transferred most of the Cleveland stars, including Jones, to the St. Louis Perfectos. Jones pitched three seasons for the Perfectos, who were renamed the Cardinals in 1899. Johnson played with the Cardinals through the 1901 season and continued to play minor league baseball until 1915, when he retired at age 41 and settled in the town of his birth, Golden, Colorado. He later served as Mayor of Golden.{{Cite web|title=2011.099.1015 - Albert Edward Jones portrait {{!}} Golden History Museum & Park|url=https://goldenhistory.pastperfectonline.com/photo/1FF07B90-EDB5-434E-9D1D-398798105018|access-date=2022-02-26|website=goldenhistory.pastperfectonline.com}}

Jones died in Inglewood, California on February 9, 1958.