Todd Barton Jones (born April 24, 1968) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was an effective middle reliever for several teams and also filled the role of closer, most notably with the Detroit Tigers for whom he earned 235 saves. On September 16, , Jones became the 21st member of the 300-save club during his second stint with the Tigers. Baseball career Jones graduated from Osborne High School in Marietta, Georgia and attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the first round of 1989 Major League Baseball draft and made his major league debut during the season. Initially a setup reliever, Jones started being used as a closer for the Astros in the 1995 season. His best years came with the Detroit Tigers from –, when he logged 142 saves. On April 22, 1999, Jones earned career save number 100. On September 27, , Jones threw the last official pitch at Tiger Stadium, striking out Carlos Beltrán as the Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 8–2. Jones' tenure as a Detroit Tiger peaked in 2000, when he converted 42 saves in 46 attempts, made his first and only AL All-Star team, and won the AL Rolaids Relief Man Award. The 42 saves established a new Tigers team record, surpassing John Hiller's 38 saves in 1973. The record would stand until 2011, when it was broken by José Valverde. Jones could not continue his success into the 2001 season. After blowing 6 of his first 17 save opportunities, Jones lost his closer role and the Tigers traded him to the Minnesota Twins on July 28, 2001. After the 2001 season, Jones became a free agent and signed with the Colorado Rockies. While playing for the Rockies in April , Jones made remarks criticized as anti-gay comments during a discussion of the play Take Me Out. Jones publicly apologized, but did not retract his comments. He shifted to the Boston Red Sox midway through the season. He made his first career postseason appearance that year, pitching to three batters in Game 6 of the ALCS as the third Red Sox pitcher against the New York Yankees. In the sixth inning, he allowed a hit while garnering a strikeout and a walk before being taken out for Alan Embree. The Red Sox won the game 9-6 with