Adam Jones (baseball)

For other people named Adam Jones (disambiguation), see Adam Jones (disambiguation) (disambiguation).

Adam Jones
Adam Jones in 2009
Baltimore Orioles – No. 10
Center fielder
Born: (1985-08-01) August 1, 1985 San Diego, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
July 14, 2006, for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through May 23, 2012)
Batting average	.278
Home runs	89
Runs batted in	320
Stolen bases	50
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2006–2007) Baltimore Orioles (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
1× All-Star selection (2009) Gold Glove Award winner (2009)

Adam La Marque Jones (born August 1, 1985) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. Jones was born and raised in San Diego, California where he starred at Samuel F. B. Morse High School. He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 draft by the Seattle Mariners. He came up the Mariners' minor league system before being traded to the Orioles before the 2008 season.

Biography

Early Life

Jones was born in San Diego, California, the son of Andrea, who raised Jones and his older brother alone until he was five. As a child, 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 at Morse. Jones graduated 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.

Seattle Mariners

He was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the 37th pick of the 2003 Major League Baseball 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

On July 12, 2006, he was called up to the Mariners to replace the injured Jeremy Reed. On August 10, 2006, he hit his first major league home run against Adam Eaton of the Texas Rangers.

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.

Oriole Adam Jones

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.

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 is having the best statistical season of his career. On August 6, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he hit his then career high 20th home run of the season. The home run came with two men on base. Jones also added a fourth RBI later in the game to give him his first career four RBI game.

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

2012

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 6 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.

Personal

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 say if he was mistaken for Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who has had numerous brushes with the law.

External links

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