Nolan Jones can still visualize the texts and hear the voicemails.
He can recall the stranger’s voice on the other line who interrupted a conversation with his fiancée on April 1, 2024.
Jones ignored the first call. But when the person dialed again, he told Morgan, who was about five months pregnant, he’d call her right back.
The Guardians’ right fielder can still hear the threats that person and the countless others who called and texted hurled at him that night.
I’m going to kill you.
I’m going to kill your wife.
I’m going to kill your family.
You should kill yourself.
On a brisk afternoon at Wrigley Field that day, Jones, then with the Rockies, allowed a sharp single to scoot under his glove and roll to the ivy-covered wall in left field. He retrieved the baseball and bounced a throw to the cutoff man, resulting in a Little League home run. A 1-0 Colorado deficit became a 4-0 hole. Jones became a prime target for fan vitriol, just five games into a new season.
After the game, a displeased viewer posted Jones’ phone number on social media. For two hours in a lonely Chicago hotel room, as the calls and texts poured in, he cried and wondered how such a promising season had already spiraled out of control.
It was the beginning of the worst year of Jones’ life.
It was the…
