Comparisons were quickly drawn between the aggressive, solid-hitting, high-strung Jones and his manager in Cincinnati, Pete Rose. “I like aggressiveness,” Rose said in 1987, “but Tracy has to learn to control his…He has to learn you don’t have to swing at the first pitch every time…He never quits moving…He gets just enough of a lead so he has to dive back into first and get his uniform dirty. Then his night is complete.”
Often injured, and unable to find a permanent place in the Reds’ talent-laden outfield, the outspoken Jones was traded to Montreal with Pat Pacillo for Jeff Reed, Herm Winningham, and Randy St. Claire in 1988. Used mainly as a pinch-hitter, reserve outfielder and DH, he bounced from Montreal to San Francisco to Detroit to Seattle over the next four seasons. After his playing career ended, he became a talk-show host on WLW, the Reds’ flagship station.
