Adam Jones (baseball)

Adam Jones
Jones with the Baltimore Orioles in 2011
Baltimore Orioles – No. 10
Center fielder
Born: August 1, 1985 San Diego, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 14, 2006, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics (through April 17, 2016)
Batting average	.278
Hits	1,321
Home runs	197
Runs batted in	664
Stolen bases	84
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2006–2007) Baltimore Orioles (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
5× All-Star (2009, 2012–2015) 4× Gold Glove Award (2009, 2012–2014) Silver Slugger Award (2013)

Adam LaMarque Jones (born August 1, 1985) is an American professional baseball center fielder with the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners selected Jones in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft. He came up in the Mariners' minor league system as a shortstop before transitioning to the outfield and being traded to the Orioles before the 2008 season.^[1] Jones is a five-time MLB All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a Silver Slugger Award winner.

Early life

Jones was born in San Diego, California on August 1, 1985, the son of Andrea, who raised Jones and his older brother alone until he was five. While growing up in Southeast San Diego, Jones excelled at both football and basketball and did not pick up a baseball bat until he was twelve. In 1997 his stepfather, Kenneth, took him to a Padres game after which he started to gain an interest in the sport. He picked up the sport very quickly and went on to star on his high school team. Jones graduated from Morse High School^[2] in 2003 after leading his high school team as both a pitcher and a shortstop. During his senior season he batted .406, hit four home runs and batted in 27 runs. On the mound, Jones posted a record of three wins and three losses, while posting a 2.71 ERA.^[3]

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

He was originally selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 37th pick in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft as a shortstop/right-handed pitcher. Most experts believed Seattle wanted to use him as a pitcher, but Jones said he would prefer to play every day and was made the shortstop of the Mariners' rookie league affiliate. A few years later when the Mariners acquired Yuniesky Betancourt, they asked Jones if he would move to the outfield and he agreed.

2006–07

Jones' career in the majors began when he was called up to the Mariners from the Tacoma Rainiers on July 14, 2006.^[4] He replaced corner outfielder Shin-Soo Choo whose attempt to fill in for injured starting center fielder Jeremy Reed was less than successful.^[5] Jones made his major-league debut that night, going 0 for 3 with a fourth-inning walk in a 5–3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.^[6][7] After going hitless in his first twelve at bats, he got his first major league hit when he singled off Sidney Ponson in the seventh of an 11-inning 5–4 defeat to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium four nights later on July 18.^[8] Jones hit his first home run in the majors off Adam Eaton in the third inning of an 8–2 loss to the Texas Rangers at Ameriquest Field in Arlington on August 10, 2006.^[9][10]

On August 3, 2007, Jones returned to the majors for the first time on the season, starting in right field against the Red Sox. He went 2 for 4 and scored the go-ahead run in the 7–4 victory.

Baltimore Orioles

On February 8, 2008, Jones was traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with left-handed reliever George Sherrill and minor league pitchers Kam Mickolio, Chris Tillman, and Tony Butler for the left-handed starting pitcher Érik Bédard.^[1]

2008

On July 28, 2008, Jones became the second player ever to hit a triple and a grand slam in the same game as a visitor to Yankee Stadium (the first was Pat Seerey in 1945). On September 21, 2008, Jones hit the final triple at Yankee Stadium in the second inning off Andy Pettitte and later scored the first run of the game.

Jones finished his first season with the Orioles batting .270 to go along with 9 home runs, 57 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He ranked 11th in the major leagues with 7 triples.

Jones at bat

2009

After a strong start to the season, Jones was selected to represent Baltimore in the 2009 All Star Game on July 5. In the game, he drove in Curtis Granderson on a sacrifice fly for the winning run in the American League's 4–3 victory.

The second half wasn't as kind to Jones though and in August, he sprained his left ankle and missed the end of the 2009 season. He finished the season with a .277 batting average, 19 homers, 70 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He tied for 5th among major league center fielders with 9 outfield assists.

In November, he was awarded a Gold Glove for his defensive play.^[11]

2010

Jones finished his third season in Baltimore with a .284 batting average, 19 homers, 69 RBI and 7 stolen bases. He led all center fielders and was second in the majors in outfield assists with 12.

2011

As of August, Jones was having the best statistical season of his career.^[3] On August 6, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he hit his then career high 20th home run of the season.^[12]

In 2011, Jones led the major leagues in sacrifice flies, with 12, and led all AL outfielders in errors, with 8.^[13][14]

2012

Adam Jones takes a lead off first base during a 2012 game vs. the Washington Nationals.

Jones started the 2012 season hitting .310 with 14 home runs and 31 runs batted in through the Orioles' first 46 games. His stellar play led to the Orioles signing him to a contract extension for six years that is worth $85.5 million. Escalators could raise that total to $91.5 million over the same period. The contract surpassed the previous contracts of Miguel Tejada and Nick Markakis as the largest in Orioles' history and makes Jones the second highest paid center fielder in Major League Baseball, behind the Dodgers' Matt Kemp.^[15] Jones hit the second walk-off home run of his career on June 9, a two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning that resulted in a 6-4 victory for the Orioles over the Philadelphia Phillies.

On July 1, Jones was selected to be one of the Orioles representatives in the 2012 All Star Game.^[16]

Jones hit the 100th home run of his career on August 28 against the Chicago White Sox. Two days later, he established a new career high by hitting his 26th home run of the season, also against the White Sox. He finished the regular season with 32 home runs.

On September 30, 2012, Jones was named the Most Valuable Oriole for the second consecutive season. The Orioles made the playoffs as a Wildcard against Texas Rangers. Jones hit a sac fly to score a run in the Orioles 5-1 win.

2013

Prior to the start of the 2013 season, Jones was selected by the United States national baseball team to participate in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He appeared in his second All-Star game, his first as a starter.

On August 11, 2013, Adam Jones reached a career-high 85 RBIs.

On September 5, 2013, Jones reached 100 RBIs for the first time, when he connected for a home run off of José Quintana.

Jones finished a strong 2013 season batting .285 with 33 home runs and 108 RBIs, both of which were new career highs. He did, however, draw only 25 walks and finished with a .318 on-base percentage, his lowest since 2008.

After the Baltimore Orioles failed to make the 2013 playoffs, Jones decided to join MLB Network as an extra analyst for the duration of the postseason.^[17]

2014

On April 13, Jones recorded his 1,000 career hit off Mark Buehrle in a game versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In a game against the Houston Astros at Camden Yards on May 11, 2014, he singled with the bases loaded and drove in his 500th and 501st RBIs. Jones participated in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game.^[18] After the season ended, he travelled to Japan to join a team of MLB All-Stars playing against All-Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball in the 2014 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.^[19]

2015

In 2015, Jones was elected to his fifth All-Star Game, his fourth in a row.^[20] He was originally voted in as a reserve, however, an injury to Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon allowed Jones to replace Gordon as a starting outfielder.^[21][22] During the Orioles final game before the All-Star break, Jones hit two homeruns in a game against the Washington Nationals, raising his career total with the Orioles to 180. His second homerun moved him into eighth on the Orioles all-time homeruns list,^[23] and it was his seventh career multi-homerun game. On July 30, Jones hit the 182nd homerun of his Orioles career, which tied him for seventh on the teams all-time list with Ken Singleton. The very next night, Jones hit a three-run homerun, giving him sole possession of seventh place on the all-time Orioles homerun list. It was also his one hundredth career homerun at OPACY. On August 16, Jones went 3-for-4 and hit two homeruns in an 18-2 rout of the Oakland Athletics. It was Jones' eighth career multi-homerun game.

Jones played in 137 games in 2015, his lowest total since 2009. He hit a career-low .269, with 27 homeruns, and 82 RBIs. The Orioles finished the season with a record of 81-81.

Personal life

On May 29, 2010, Jones was mistakenly detained at the Canadian border while he was trying to get to Toronto. He believed it was a case of mistaken identity; however, he would not disclose whether he was mistaken for Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who has had numerous brushes with the law.^[24]

On August 11, 2013, at a game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, a fan threw a banana towards him in the outfield, Jones reported via Twitter.^[25] It was later revealed that the fan threw the banana in disgust at the performance of the Giants in a 10-2 loss to the Orioles and was not intended as an insult toward Adam Jones.^[26]

Jones married Audie Fugett, the only daughter of Jean Fugett, in late-December 2014.^[27] They had their first son, August, in March 2014.^[28][29]

References

1. "Mariners seal deal for Bedard". mlb.com. February 8, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
2. "Adam Jones Biography". JockBio.com. 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
3. "The Official Site of the Baltimore Orioles". mlb.com. 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
4. "Seattle Mariners to release pitcher Jeff Harris". Seattle Mariners. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
5. "Notes: Jones makes big-league debut". Seattle Mariners. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
6. "Mariners jump on Jays early for win". Seattle Mariners. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
7. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Seattle Mariners 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3". retrosheet.org. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
8. "Notes: Jones relives memorable hit". Seattle Mariners. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
9. "Rangers get away from Pineiro". Seattle Mariners. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
10. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Texas Rangers 8, Seattle Mariners 2". retrosheet.org. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
11. Spencer Fordin / MLB.com. "Jones Snares First Gold Glove Award". Baltimore.orioles.mlb.com. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
12. "Orioles 6, Blue Jays 2". espn.com. August 6, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
13. "2011 Major League Baseball Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
14. "Adam Jones Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
15. "O's, Adam Jones agree to deal". ESPN.com. May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
16. "Orioles trio tabbed for All-Star Game". Baltimore Orioles. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
17. "Adam Jones Joining MLB Network as Extra Analyst for Playoffs".
18. "Orioles' Nelson Cruz, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters voted All-Star starters". Baltimore Orioles. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
19. "MLB stars commit to 'All-Star Series' in Japan". Major League Baseball. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
20. Eat More Esskay. "MLB All-Star Game: Orioles selected are Zach Britton, Darren O'Day, Manny Machado, Adam Jones". Camden Chat. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
21. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-jones-to-start-all-star-game-for-third-straight-year-20150709-story.html
22. "Orioles' Adam Jones replacing Alex Gordon in AL All-Star lineup". CBSSports.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
23. "Who Are The Orioles' All-Time Home Run Leaders?". PressBox Baltimore. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
24. "Adam Jones Detained At Canada Border For Hours". Huffingtonpost.com. May 28, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
25. "Fan throws banana at Adam Jones in San Francisco". USA Today.
26. "Fan apologizes for throwing banana". ESPN.
27. "Orioles center fielder Adam Jones gets married in Arizona" The Baltimore Sun, Friday, January 2, 2015
28. "O's Jones, fiancee welcome baby boy". Baltimore Orioles. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
29. brez. "Adam Jones wife Audie Jones". Player Wives & Girlfriends. Retrieved November 10, 2015.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)