Padres pitching great Randy Jones diagnosed with throat cancer, cites years of tobacco use

Former San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Jones has been diagnosed with throat cancer, which he has linked directly to years of tobacco use.

Jones, 67, told reporters Thursday that he was diagnosed in November and began undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment on Dec. 12.

A member of the Padres' Hall of Fame, Jones estimated that "90 percent of my treatment" has been completed. He used chewing tobacco as a player and also said Thursday that he "started dipping eight or nine years ago," acknowledging that it "might've been the catalyst" for his cancer.

"I chewed as a player," Jones said, according to MLB.com. "I smoked cigars most of my adult life.

"There's a link, it's all related. But I'm lucky because I've been told this is a low-risk cancer. Again, it's in my throat, right above my vocal chords."

Jones spent eight seasons with the Padres from 1973 to 1980 and was a two-time All-Star. The left-hander won the National League Cy Young Award in 1976, when he went 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA. He was the first Padres pitcher to win a Cy Young Award and also became the first pitcher in franchise history to start the All-Star Game in 1976.

Jones is the latest Padres great to attribute cancer to tobacco use. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died of salivary gland cancer in 2014 at the age of 54, believed his disease was the result of his chewing tobacco habit during his 20-year playing career.