SAN DIEGO (AP) Randy Jones, the San Diego Padres’ first Cy Young Award winner, is fighting throat cancer linked to tobacco use during his baseball career.
Jones told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday that he has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments since being diagnosed in November.
The 67-year-old former pitcher says the cancer was caught early and hasn’t spread. Jones said doctors told him it’s a result of the chewing tobacco he used as a player. He has smoked cigars throughout his adult life.
”Overall, I’m feeling really good,” Jones told the newspaper.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, a longtime Padres star and franchise icon, died of salivary gland cancer in 2014 that he believed was related to using tobacco during his major league career.
Jones was drafted by the Padres in 1972 and became the club’s first pitcher to appear in an All-Star Game in 1975. He was an All-Star the following year when he won the NL Cy Young Award.
The left-hander had a 92-105 record with a 3.30 ERA for the Padres from 1973-80. He is the franchise’s career leader in starts, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched. He retired after two seasons with the New York Mets.
Jones said he hopes to join the Padres in mid-March for the remainder of spring training, where he has been a guest instructor at the team’s camp in Arizona since 2013.
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