The Baltimore Orioles announced on Friday that longtime center fielder Adam Jones, who played for the franchise from 2008 until 2018, will be retiring at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 15.
It will be the perfect setup to say goodbye to one of the most influential Orioles of the 2010s: a packed stadium and a competitive team that will likely return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, when Jones was active and helping the cause.
Fans, of course, were excited to hear the news.
ADAM JONES IS RETIRING AN ORIOLE! pic.twitter.com/eTw4bEcM1H
— Zach Bollinger (@zachbollinger18) August 25, 2023
Just bought my ticket for Adam Jones retirement night.
Sitting in Section 10 for Capt 10! pic.twitter.com/RjiQUaHRFc
— Stephanie (@marylandgirlie) August 25, 2023
For all the noise around the Orioles (lease, etc.), the team has been absolutely killing it from a marketing perspective. The Bird Bath, Adam Jones' retirement, etc. … they keep hitting the right notes.
— Matt Taylor (@roarfrom34) August 25, 2023
Put Adam Jones into every Hall of Fam ever. The dude is so underrated and also just a fantastic human. https://t.co/UKfXWwJHTN pic.twitter.com/vDnTrV0FKT
— The Negative Magnus Effect (@TheGreenMagnus) August 25, 2023
Stats accounts have made sure, in recent hours, to highlight what Jones did for the franchise.
Adam Jones (@SimplyAJ10) franchise ranks
4th – Hits
4th – Total Bases
4th – At Bats
5th – Home Runs
5th – Runs
5th – RBI
5th – Extra Base Hits
7th – Doubles
8th – Games Played
10th – Triples
10th – Stolen Bases1 of the 2 best CF'ers in team history in a virtual tie with Blair
— Orioles Statistics (@OriolesStatist1) August 25, 2023
He basically helped resurrect an organization that hadn’t made the postseason since 1997 and took it to three postseasons in a span of five years from 2012 to 2016.
He certainly made his impact felt on those mid-2010s Orioles.
Together with Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop, JJ Hardy, Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz, Steven Pearce, Chris Tillman, Zack Britton, Ubaldo Jimenez, and even a young Kevin Gausman, Jones was there to witness the last days in which Baltimore was truly competitive before what we are seeing now from the team.
The 2012 O’s made it to the Division Series, and two years later they went to their first AL Championship Series since 1997.
They were swept by the Kansas City Royals, but the city was extremely happy nonetheless.
Then two years later, in 2016, the O’s fell in the Wild Card Game.
Jones was in center field for most of those games.
After some time in Japan, he will now call it a career in front of the fans that saw him blossom into one of the American League’s most exciting players in the 2010s.
NEXT: Orioles Reveal 2023 Adam Jones Update
