Samuel "Toothpick" Jones was born in Stewartsville, Ohio on 
December 14, 1925. He was a right hand pitcher.  He didn't play long
for the Buckeyes as his arrival was around the time the Negro Leagues were
ending.  He went on to a successful major league career.
         He was known as "toothpick" for his habit of chewing on a toothpick
constantly.  There is a lot not known about Jones but it appears that he
played for the Oakland Larks in 1946 in the short lived West Coast Baseball 
Association, another Negro League.
         Quincy Trouppe, pictured here with Jones, signed him for the 
Buckeyes for the 1947 season. Both would end up playing for the 
Cleveland Indians in 1952 becoming the first African American battery in
major league history.
         After the 1948 season, the Cleveland Buckeyes moved to Louisville 
and Sam found him pitching in a southern Minnesota semipro league.
After a lot of promoting by Wilbur Hayes, who had been the 
business manager of the Buckeyes, to the Cleveland Indians, Jones
was given a tryout and signed by the Tribe.
         Jones would go on to play twelve years in the major leagues and
was the first African American pitcher to pitch a no-hitter in 1955 when
he pitched for the Chicago Cubs.
         Sam never appeared in the World Series except in 1947 when he 
pitched for the Buckeyes. He appeared in the 1955 All Star game and
both All Star games in 1959 when the major leagues had two a year.
         His statistics are listed below although his stats for the Buckeyes
may not be correct due to a lack of official Negro League statistics. 
        He passed away at the age of 45 in Morgantown, West Virginia,
on November 5, 1971 of neck cancer.