Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 2-2-18

The History Of Baseball
ance with the GCL Dodgers, striking out 10, walking one and allowing four hits and no runs in 5 innings in one game.
In 1993, he lasted 69 in- nings, his most yet as a profes- sional, but averaged under five innings per start (15 starts), walked more than he fanned (45-44).
Jones ended his profes- sional career with the Char- lotte Rangers in 2001, relieving three times and al- lowing 9 hits and 4 walks in 4 innings. He had a 18.69 ERA
and lost his only decision.
He finished his pro career with a 23-20 record, but was just 15-20 after his first daz- zling season, going down sim- ply as yet another high school pitching star drafted in the first round but ruining his arm
and never making the majors.
Tyrone Vontrace Grif- fin was born on September 5, 1967, in Fort Campbell, Ken- tucky. His family relocated to Tampa and he enrolled in the
TY GRIFFIN
Hillsborough County School System, graduating from King High School.
After moving to Tampa,
Griffin became a member of the Belmont Heights Little League and excelled in base- ball.
After high school gradua- tion, he continued his educa- tion at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Baseball Team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. At Georgia Tech, Griffin was named an All-ACC second baseman and the Most Valu- able Player of the 1988 At- lantic Coast Conference
Baseball Tournament.
He was part of the U. S.
National Baseball Team and competed in the 1987 Pan American Games, and in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
He was drafted in the first round (9th overall) of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He made his professional debut with the Peoria Chiefs in 1989, and was also promoted to the Charlotte Knights of the Class-AA South- ern League that same year.
Baseball America rated Griffin the 22nd best prospect in baseball before the 1990 season.
Griffin played for several teams, including in the inde- pendent Northern League. The last team he played for was the Grand Forks Varmints of the Prairie League in 1997.
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