Adam Jones

Adam LaMarque Jones (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional baseball outfielder.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes.

Adam 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.

Growing up in San Diego, he was a San Diego Padres fan and was a huge fan of Tony Gwynn.

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.

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.

Jones graduated from Morse High School 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.

At Morse, Jones was a teammate of future Baltimore Orioles teammate Quintin Berry.

Jones initially committed to play college baseball at San Diego State for head coach Tony Gwynn.

Jones was 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.

He made his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2006 and was traded to the Orioles before the 2008 season.

Jones is a five-time MLB All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a Silver Slugger winner.

Jones' MLB career began when he was called up to the Mariners from the Tacoma Rainiers on July 14, 2006.

He replaced corner outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, whose attempt to fill in for injured starting center fielder Jeremy Reed was unsuccessful.

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.

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.

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.

On August 3, 2007, Jones returned to MLB for the first time that season, starting in right field against the Boston Red Sox.

He went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the 7–4 victory.

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.

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 nine home runs, 57 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 132 games.

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 in 119 games.

He tied for fifth among major league center fielders with nine outfield assists.

In November, he was awarded a Gold Glove for his defensive play.

Jones finished his third season in Baltimore with a .284 batting average, 19 homers, 69 RBI and seven stolen bases in 149 games.

He led all center fielders and was second in the majors in outfield assists with 12.

His home runs included an inside-the-park home run on May 22, 2010, when center fielder Nyjer Morgan, apparently not realizing the ball was still on the playing field, threw his glove down in disgust.

He was tied for 11th in the major leagues with seven triples.