Adam Jones Has Always Been That Way
WTP celebrates 150 in style
Welcome to Warning Track Power, an independent newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.
When Adam Jones officially retires as an Oriole tonight, fans in Baltimore will celebrate the player who led the organization to three playoff appearances in a five-year span. They’ll recall the speed and athleticism that yielded three Gold Gloves. They’ll catch another glimpse of the charismatic personality that endeared him to a city. There might be pies to the face, there will certainly be highlights of his Birdland heroics, and there will be reminders of his impact off the field, like in the kindness and love he showed to Mo Gaba and continues to show the Gaba family.
Fans outside Charm City may best remember the catch from the 2017 World Baseball Classic. In a game to determine which team would advance to the championship round, Jones — patrolling centerfield for Team USA — elevated above the fence at Petco Park to take a home run away from then-O’s teammate and Dominican Republic third baseman Manny Machado.
“That was a great play at a big moment,” says Alan Trammell, who was the bench coach for the gold-medal winning USA team that year. “I can visualize that play. I don’t even have to close my eyes.”
Trammell remembers that Jones was immediately looked to as the leader and captain of that team. “The players knew it,” he says. “They gravitated to him. He was the leader. He was the guy.”
It’s one thing to be that person on your regular team. When your teammates view you that way and they’re all wearing USA across their jerseys, it approaches superhero status.
Trammell had never met Jones, but they quickly bonded; both men grew up in San Diego. Jones’ mother, in fact, went to Kearny High School, the alma mater of a certain Hall of Fame shortstop who spent his entire career with the Tigers. With Jones’ personality, though, the two men were likely to bond regardless of their hometowns.
“This guy was bringing a lot more to the table than just being a damn good player… He was a joy to be around,” Trammell says. His demeanor and talents on and off the field were captivating. “He was taught well.”
I wondered who had taught him.
Jones was selected with the 37th overall pick of the 2003 Draft by the Seattle Mariners. At Morse High School in San Diego, Jones pitched and played shortstop. In his third season of professional baseball, he went to the Arizona Fall League to learn center field. Seattle officials believed a move to the outfield would create the fastest path to the big leagues.
(Here’s a great tidbit: There are four position players from Morse who have played Major League Baseball. All of them appeared for the Orioles: Quintin Berry, Sam Horn, Jones, and Mark McLemore.)
On July 14, 2006, a couple weeks before his 21st birthday, Jones debuted with the M’s. J.J. Putz recorded the final three outs of that game for the save.
“He was just a kid when he got the call,” Putz remembers. “I think what impressed all the veteran players was how professional he was. He was mature way ahead of his age.”
The GM of that team was Bill Bavasi. Infamously, Bavasi traded Jones, along with four other players including Chris Tillman and George Sherrill, to the Orioles for Erik Bedard prior to the 2008 season. “And that’s why I’m here talking to you,” he confesses.
Although Bavasi did trade Jones, he says he never stopped admiring the player. Last year, in fact, Bavasi and Jones ended up on the same podcast. The five-time All-Star outfielder was gracious and kind. “I don’t think he was trying to be,” Bavasi says. “It’s just the way he is.”
So who taught him to be the ballplayer and the person he is?
“Adam came out of the womb that way.”
Those of you scoring at home may already know this, but for the rest of you: This is the 150th edition of Warning Track Power. While that may not earn me a pie in the face from Adam Jones, it’s a milestone I want to celebrate with all of you.
It doesn’t feel like very long ago that WTP published for the first time. I wasn’t sure what it would look like or where it would end up. Hell, some weeks I’m still not sure where we’re going. But more than 100,000 words later, here we are.
I feel very fortunate that I get to share my love of baseball with you regularly. I’ve realized that WTP is my love letter to the game. Hallmark probably isn’t interested, but that’s not important. Here’s what is:
To everyone reading these words, thank you. Thank you for subscribing, for sharing, for your feedback, and for supporting this project. Writing this newsletter has rekindled old friendships, reconnected me with former colleagues, and delivered new friends. It’s a joy to receive emails from you and hear your stories. Thank you for sharing!
The WTP community covers 39 states and 15 countries. In addition to the USA, we’re read in Canada, Mexico, Cuba (!), Brazil, England, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Croatia, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and most recently Morocco. I’m not sure that the word hegemony gets used often in baseball columns, but this newsletter is now a six-continent Substack. Does anyone know a baseball fan in Antarctica?
Thank you again for being a part of 150 WTP posts. Here’s to the next 150!
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