Orioles icon Adam Jones officially retires with Baltimore: 'I'm forever grateful'

BALTIMORE -- Adam Jones' on-field mark in Baltimore came in center field at Camden Yards. But it's in the opposite direction from home plate that Jones has twice cemented the city as his "second home." Inside the ballpark's auxiliary clubhouse -- the same room he signed a then-franchise-record contract extension in 2012 -- Jones officially retired with the Orioles on Friday, as he and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias each signed four pages of a one-day contract. Jones, 38, spent 11 of his 14 major league seasons with Baltimore before ending his playing career with two seasons in Japan. He ranks among the franchise leaders in several categories, hitting more home runs at Camden Yards than any other batter and serving as a team leader during the Orioles' most successful run of the past quarter century. "Baltimore has a special part in my heart," Jones said. "I still consistently watched Orioles games everywhere I was at, even in Japan. It's just something that is ingrained to me. "It is my second home. I wanted to show my kids this, also. The last thing they really saw me is being a ramen-eating Japanese player, and now, they get to see this and see how their lives have been shaped based on rocking the black and orange. I'm forever grateful." Jones' retirement and the accompanying ceremony came before the Orioles faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a vital American League East matchup in front of a sold-out crowd, many of whom came to celebrate Jones. But the timing was also significant to him: Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the death of Jones' mother, Andrea Bradley. He had several family members in attendance for the festivities, including his wife, Audie, and sons, August and Axel. A product of San Diego, Jones was drafted in the first round by the Seattle Mariners in 2003, then was among the players dealt to Baltimore in 2008 for starting pitcher Erik Bedard. The next year, he made his first of five All-Star teams and won his first of four Gold Gloves, all with Baltimore. He received Most Valuable Player votes each year from 2012 to 2014, the first three years in a five-season run in which the Orioles were the AL's winningest team. Asked Friday whether this year's Orioles -- unexpectedly atop the AL East -- remind him of the 2012 team that ended Baltimore's 15-year run of losing seasons, Jones begrudgingly said he instead compares them with the 2014 Kansas City Royals, which used an approach based on contact and athleticism to sweep Baltimore in the AL Championship Series. "It burns my damn soul to say that," Jones said. But he has savored how this Orioles team has blossomed out of the one he left behind. The extension Jones signed in 2012 came to an end after the 2018 campaign, when the club's run of success bottomed out. As other established Orioles were traded away during that season, Jones exercised his 10-and-5 rights to void a deal that would have sent him to Philadelphia. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks that offseason, ending his decade in Baltimore. ...continued