NEW YORK – There's a story about Adam Jones, when he was in his first year of minor league ball. On his way back onto the field from the dugout – he was a shortstop then – Jones put his arm around his manager and exclaimed, "Hey coach, I've got to tell you, I [flipping] love this game."The manager had to play the tough guy, snapping at Jones, "Don't put your arm around me, and don't call me 'coach.' " But he smiled inside at Jones' passion, and the story made the rounds in the Mariners organization, because it shows why Adam Jones is baseball's next big star.
"He's the type of player who, if he keeps his head on straight – and I always hear he's that kind of guy – there's no telling how high the ceiling is for him," Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett told FanHouse.
"It is kind of scary to see how he's put it that much together in that short a time."
Jones – now Baltimore's center fielder and the centerpiece of what may go down as one of the most lopsided trades ever – can legitimately be called a five-tool player; he has the ability to run, field, throw, hit and hit for power.
This year's breakout player, the 23-year-old Jones has made a stunningly fast progression from a bundle of potential to productive player. Despite missing four games last week because of a strained right hamstring, Jones leads the AL in slugging (.656) and is among the league leaders in average (.366), runs (35), total bases (86), on-base percentage (.421), extra-base hits (21) and average with men in scoring position (.423).
He is also an impact player on the base paths and in the outfield.
"He's going to be a good player for a long time," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "A long time."
But a little over a year ago, in his first spring training with Baltimore, Jones was clumsy in center field. In the second week of May, he was hitting .223 with 31 strikeouts and just seven walks.
So what happened?
It seems to be a combination of Jones' rare ability and his desire to soak up, and put to use, the finer points of the game.
"He's grown up tremendously in a year," said Baltimore first-base coach John Shelby, who as the outfielder instructor has worked closely with Jones.
"If I didn't know better," said Boston infielder Nick Green, a teammate of Jones' in 2007, "I'd think he's been in the big leagues for years, the way his confidence comes out and the way he plays the game."
One of the times Jones was sent down after a call-up to Seattle, Mariners trainer Rick Griffin told him, "I know you're disappointed. Go down there and show why you belong here. Have that swagger."
Jones, given to exclamations and with a personality at times even larger than his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame, has taken the advice to heart ever since.
Besides the swagger, he has the motivation to get better and a thirst for knowledge.
"I'm not just a baseball player, I'm a student of the game," Jones said.
"I think my situation would be defined as the opportunity of a lifetime – not just to be in the big leagues, but I have a hell of a hitting coach [Terry Crowley] that everybody likes and respects, I have a hell of an outfield coach/first-base coach [Shelby] that everybody likes and respects, I have a hell of a third-base coach [Juan Samuel] that was a hell of a baserunner and could steal bases."
Said Tim Reynolds, who scouted and signed Jones for the Mariners: "Tremendous aptitude. He has a lot of aptitude. You take aptitude, athleticism and tremendous [mental] makeup, you have a star in the making."
Baltimore got Jones from Seattle in the February 2008 trade that sent lefty Erik Bedard to the Mariners. Not only Jones, but the Orioles got four other players too: reliever George Sherrill, an All-Star last year; right-hander Chris Tillman, who is 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA in Triple-A; 6-foot-7 lefty Tony Butler, who is in Class A; and right-handed reliever Kam Mickolio.
But Jones was the guy Baltimore wanted most.
"When we traded him, the minor-league guys were sick," said a person who was with Seattle at the time. "The last time I saw our guys this sick about a minor-leaguer we were trading was a guy named Varitek."
The Mariners had picked Jones 37th overall in the 2003 draft, out of Morse High School in San Diego.
There, Jones was a shortstop and pitcher who experimented with switch-hitting. On the mound, he was clocked throwing 96 mph with a "Doc Gooden curveball," according to Reynolds.
(Does Jones miss pitching? "Hell, no!")
Reynolds said Jones didn't have a tough childhood but "had to fend for himself" somewhat, showing some initiative. For example, Jones learned Spanish so he could converse with his Hispanic classmates, and that comes in handy now in the clubhouse.
"He's got street smarts," Reynolds said, "and he's got baseball smarts."
Seattle moved Jones to center field full-time in 2006, at Triple-A. He has come so far that Shelby allows Jones to position the other Baltimore outfielders.
"He has shown me that he knows what he's doing in the outfield," Shelby said.
"The thing I love about him is he'll come in and tell me what he did wrong instead of me pointing it out. ... I think very soon he's going to start winning Gold Gloves."
How about this play? On April 12, Tampa Bay's Gabe Gross was on third base when Carl Crawford lined a soft single to Jones in center. Jones decoyed Gross by acting as if he could catch the ball on the fly and then threw one of those 96 mph bullets to the plate.
And Gross was out trying to score from third on a single.
Jones has progressed from relying on athletic ability in center field to learning the nuances of the game, and the same seems to be happening with his offense.
"He's worked hard laying off some of the pitches he wouldn't lay off since I've known him," Sherrill said.
Jones also gained strength over the winter as he worked out at Athletes' Performance Institute in Arizona.
"I'm going there the rest of my damn life," Jones said.
Jones could turn out to be one of the central parts of a resurgence at Camden Yards, as the Orioles move to a team built around him, right fielder Nick Markakis, catching prospect Matt Wieters and three pitching prospects, Tillman, Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta.
And it is worth remembering that since Jones was drafted at 17, he doesn't turn 24 until Aug. 1 – making him younger than Melky Cabrera, Matt LaPorta, Hanley Ramirez, B.J. Upton and Ryan Braun.
"He's not at his full potential yet," Shelby said of Jones.
That is saying a lot.
"It says a whole lot," Shelby continued.
"You can look at him and only imagine what it's going to be like in a couple of years."
Jones may not be able to keep up his gaudy stats, but if he does ... only six players have slugged .650 in their 23-year-old season: Ted Williams, Evan Longoria, Joe DiMaggio, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays and Rudy York.
And if Jones has a career anywhere close to those guys, he can put his arm around anyone he wants.
"Passion is the perfect word," Reynolds said. "He lives and breathes baseball. He doesn't just want to be in the big leagues. He wants to be a star in the big leagues."
