I didn't have quite the appreciation of Ruppert Jones as an Angels fan until I was asked to manage a strat-o-matic replaying of the 1986 baseball season. My Angels won the division and it was on a platoon of Righty George Hendrick and the Left-Handed Ruppert Jones. While Hendrick made our 2005 Top 100 Angels list, an analysis of Ruppert Jones' contributions to the 1986 AL West division winners, as well as to the 90-Game winning 1985 Angels reveal him to be the more outstanding of the pair.

While Jones' 1986 batting average of .229 compared to Hendrick's .272, Jones actually had a higher On-Base Percentage (.339 to Hendrick's .332). Jones also played far more innings in the outfielder and was better out there than Hendrick. And Ruppert was a full time player, amassing more ABs in his 3 season as an Angel than Hendrick managed in the parts of 4 he was in Anaheim.

Ruppert Jones is currently tied with Mike Napoli for 36th place in franchise history with 46 HR in 1100+ Plate Appearances.

CAREER STATS