After 50 years, Cleon Jones Gil Hodges pulled Jones from a game (opens in a new tab)” href=”https://nypost.com/2019/02/23/1969-mets-hero-cleon-jones-clears-up-50-year-old-gil-hodges-mystery/” target=”_blank”>tells the story of why Gil Hodges pulled Jones from a game.

“But when he passed the pitcher’s mound I thought he wanted to talk to Buddy [Harrelson at shortstop]. Then he passed Buddy and I was looking in the bullpen. I thought something was happening in the bullpen, he walks out to me and says, ‘Are you all right.’

“I said I’m fine. He said, ‘Do you think you could have held him to a single?’ I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Gil, look down.’

“When he looked down, his feet were under water and so was mine. It had rained pretty good that day. And we had had a talk in Montreal, a week or so before that. I had a bad ankle. It comes from my old football days and every now and then it would puff up on me.

“We had a talk that day, and he said ‘Do you think you should come out of the lineup? I said as long as I’m swinging the bat good and I am not hurting the ballclub, I want to stay in the lineup.’

“I reminded him of that talk in Montreal and he said he forgot about that. He then said, ‘You know what, Jonesy? You shouldn’t even be out here, and I said fine. Let’s go, and we walked back to the dugout.

“Everybody said I went into the clubhouse and tore up the clubhouse, and pulled down all the lockers and I was all upset. None of that happened. And each of these guys will tell you the same thing.’’

NYPost.com

Hodges and Jones allowed everyone to think the removal was about not hustling, and it worked to motivate the team.

Wow. I’m sorry, Mr. Jones to have thought poorly of you all these years for that play.