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The Tigers simply had to let go of Jahmai Jones when they did. They waited long enough to move on, and Eduardo Valencia made an immediate impact — and provided one of the most heartwarming moments of Detroit's season so far — in Jones' absence. He was a great clubhouse guy who probably didn't deserve all of the hate he got from fans toward the end, but it was time for him to go.
Detroit managed to find a taker after they DFA'ed him, trading him to the Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later. As bad as Jones had been for the Tigers, there was still the fear that something might click upon a change of scenery. Could he get to Boston and make the Tigers look silly for their inability to fix him? Could he actually help the Red Sox continue their slow but steady trek up the Wild Card standings?
The answer to both questions is 'yes.'
In his first at-bat as a Red Sox, Jones hit a game-tying, two-run homer against the Rays, a 407-foot bomb that went over Fenway's Green Monster. He was rewarded with a start the next day — in the leadoff spot, no less — and immediately picked up a leadoff single.
Jahmai Jones' massive Red Sox debut has Tigers fans in shambles
Jones is from Georgia, but he said before his Red Sox debut that he "watched a lot of Red Sox games. Ironically, I loved Boston growing up. Loved just everything about it."
Red Sox fans probably ate that up as much as Tigers fans ate up Jones' connection to Detroit (his late father Andre Jones played for the Lions in 1992). We can't blame them for that, but it won't stop us being bitter about the way that getting out of Detroit seemed to be the solution to all of his problems.
There might be even more mysterious baseball forces at work here. Jones is a former Yankee, and those tend to have a whale of a time when they land in Boston. Whatever it is, it's absolutely infuriating.
In all likelihood, it's not going to last — but what if it does? They've already extended their winning streak to 13 games and snuck into the last Wild Card spot despite having been written off just three weeks ago, and Jones' homer contributed directly to that effort.
Maybe it hurts so much because that's exactly what the Tigers are trying to do: crawl their way up. Hinch deciding to pinch-hit Jones in key spots through May and June arguably helped put in the Tigers in the hole they're trying to get out of, and now, as soon as he's gone, he's helping a different upstart team?
Infuriating.
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This article was originally published on motorcitybengals.com as Tigers fans won't know whether to laugh or cry over Jahmai Jones' Red Sox debut.
