December 2, 2003

The news that Ken Jones has died in Tauranga will sadden those who came to know him in his illustrious softball career. One of the ace pitchers, he was also the consummate left-handed batter who could hit anything, to any part of the field. This is his story.

THE BACKYARD BOY.

Softball came to Ken Jones' back fence where the American experts of the game showed him the batting and pitching skills which made him Auckland softball's first household name.

Ken spent most of his early life on the edge of Mt Albert's Fowlds Park, just over the fence from where the right field of the main diamond was placed when the game shifted there for its famous days. His bricklayer father had built the family home there, but not because he was a sporting man.

Night after night in the wartime summers, the American softball squads from the various bases went to the park to practise for the all-American series at Carlaw Park each weekend.

"There were sailors from the base at Hobson Park, soldiers from Avondale and marines from Mt Wellington," said Ken. "I had seen the game played two years previously but I moulded to the batting and fielding I saw at the park.

"Maynard, one of the talented Marines, had a beautiful swing and I copied that. It served me all my career.

"They showed me what Baron Edwards emphasised years later. Baron was an American who came back to marry his New Zealand girl friend. He coached Eden and Auckland and showed the knowledge which had made him outstanding in baseball.

"He said that good batters listen. That they stand still and watch the ball. They watch where the ball comes from, not the pitcher's face. 'It's like golf,' he said, and I have followed the advice through the years."

The watching and listening paid off for Ken and he became one of the most devastating batters in Auckland softball history, slapping his left hand shots around the outfield, taking full advantage of the left-handers' advantages.

But he was first known as a pitcher, using the windmill style to cut down batters accustomed to the slingshot and figure eight styles.

"There was no one to teach me so I developed my own windmill style while playing for Richmond. Dad had a double brick garage and I spent hours pitching to a chalk target. After each pitch I had to retrieve it myself. However I had plenty of balls as I would search for them after the practices because Fowlds had some rough areas in those days. The Americans had given me a glove.

"George McKeown, a keen Richmond man and later president of the ASA, got hold of some baseball bats and cut them down to size for us at his factory.

"Richmond had invited me to play in their top side and I was just 16 years old. My early years were fantastic and it was great to be able to play with people you could look up to. We were learning and we were rapt in the game. Peter Lishman was the same and we had players like Bob King, Joe Lucky, Tommy Dell and Blackie Blacklock to play with in the Auckland side.

"When I pitched for Auckland my mother dyed a shirt and trousers for me as all pitchers had to play in black to give the batters a good sight of the ball. It was introduced by Charlie Verrall, the great innovator of the game, and the rule lasted about two years. I don't think it made much difference.

"Charlie wore white gloves when umpiring so that everyone could see the count. I think they were his wedding gloves.

"We had to find our own shoes. My first pair were cycling shoes and Charlie made up some cleats with his own brass mould. They made me feel like a Yank baseballer as I always tried to read about them in magazines.

"So my rep first game, against South Auckland (now Waikato), was within sight of home, on the top field at Fowlds Park, with a very short right field, which suited me. It was big win and I was able to hit some homers over the bank.

"By this time Alf Whelan had formed the United club so I went to play for them for about four or five years. My pitching finished when Leo Wilson arrived from Teachers' College and I went to the outfield.

"I lasted a while in the outfield but it was too lonely for me and I switched to second base.

"Then Ramblers were having some problems getting a strong team and I was persuaded by Bert Hoffman, Ron Hayter and Jack Shanks that I could be a help so I thought it was time to move on to them. Bert was such a great guy and was an excellent listener so I could pass things on to him to tell the team.

"Bruce Bishop, Jack Shanks and Paul Rogers were so keen to learn.

"Ramblers was my last club and I played for them until I retired at 33 years of age, hitting a home run in my last game, against Samoa Society, perhaps in 1959.

"It was a good time to stop playing as we had two children, Malcolm and Clinton, there was the business to run, a need to spend time with the family. It was great to socialise with the players after the game in the clubrooms but I was spending too much time with the players.

"In the following years I spent time coaching junior sides after my boys went to play for Eden. I saw many members of my teams go overseas with the 1972 United touring party."

The Coca-Cola Park years ended with with the construction of a brilliant junior field, the Ken Jones' Diamond, being formed through Ken's dedicated work. It took two years to build and it took less than a week, years later, to be torn down for a supermarket car park.

Ken had met his wife, Gwen Howe, at the Crystal Palace dance in Mt Eden, although he had seen her play in a curtain raiser at the softball when she was with Eden. She had previously played for Victory.

"She danced really well so I asked her for another dance, and that was the start of it. Three years later we were married and we moved into a house that I had bought, at the gates of Fowlds Park."

It was almost as close as his boyhood home, but closer still to the Rocky Nook Bowling Club Ken joined in 1984, in the time when he was not playing golf. Bowls is his big interest and one of his favourite times is the annual Evergreens softballers' bowls series, held here (and in Wellington on alternate years). The friendships gained have developed over the years.

Two of Ken's memories are low key, like the man himself.

"I was on third base, coaching a United juniors' side at Fowlds Park and told a young boy to go home. He cried his eyes out until we explained the difference between his place and home plate.

"The other was with Steve Jackson, such a polite boy who called me Mr Jones until he invited me to his 21st birthday. When I told him to call me KJ, he called me Mr KJ. That's Steve."

Ken played for Auckland in the golden years between 1943 and 1958, taking seven national titles, representing New Zealand once, and the Rest or the North Island on other occasions. Gwen was an Auckland player for two seasons while Malcolm played for Auckland in 1976-77 and NZ Colts in 1978.

And that's Ken Jones, a legend in his time and one of those who put Ramblers, and Auckland softball, into the daily papers of the time. Master pitcher, master batter and master bricklayer.