Top Five Tuesday: Adam Jones
For the next few weeks, Top Five Tuesday is going to take a look at the best games of Timber Rattlers players who are going to be bobbleheads for the 2014 season.
Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones was a Timber Rattler during the 2004 season and he is part of the 2014 Bobblehead Series. The date of the Adam Jones Bobblehead is Tuesday, June 10.
Jones was a supplemental 1st round pick (37th overall) by the Seattle Mariners in the 2003 draft. Jones played just 31 games as a professional (28 in Arizona League and three with Everett in the Northwest League) in the 2003 draft.
He was the shortstop and #2 batter in the lineup on Opening Night against Clinton on April 8 as an 18-year-old and he was rarely out of the lineup after that. Jones played 130 games - out of 139 on the schedule - and led the team in hits (136) and RBI (72).
Jones was involved in The Trade. Jones and four other players, including former Rattlers pitchers Chris Tillman and Tony Butler, were sent to the Orioles for Erik Bedard on February 8, 2008. Since that trade, Jones has made three All-Star Games, won three Gold Gloves, and picked up a Silver Slugger award.
Head over to Rattler Radio where it's Tater Tuesday to see a list of all his Timber Rattlers homers in 2004
This week we take a look at the Top Five games of Adam Jones as a Timber Rattler.
Honorable Mention for Jones was on June 29 vs. Dayton with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, three RBI, and a stolen base. Somehow, Jones was not a Midwest League All-Star. He stepped up about a week into the second half of the season with a nice game against the Dragons. Jones had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, a two-run single in the second, and a single in the fifth. Jones also stole second base in the fifth, his seventh of the season. The Timber Rattlers won the game 6-0.
5.) May 25 at Quad Cities: 2-for-4, home run, four RBI.
Jones singled in the fifth to snap an 0-for-9 slump. Then, he hit his third home run of the season. This homer was a grand slam in the sixth inning that put the Rattlers up 5-2. The Swing tied the game 6-6, but the Rattlers would win 7-6 in ten innings.
4.) May 11 at Kane County: 3-for-6, triple, home run, three runs scored, three RBI.
His game started with a single and a run scored in the first inning. In the second, he reached on an error. In the fourth, the Rattlers were up 4-2 with two runners on base. Then, Jones cracked a two-run triple and scored a run. In the seventh, Wisconsin was clinging to a 10-9 lead with two out and none on base. Jones cracked a home run on a 1-0 pitch and the Rattlers had some breathing room. The triple and the homer in this game were his first each for the 2004 season for Jones.
3.) September 2 at Peoria: 3-for-5, double, runs, three RBI
Jones found a finishing kick down the stretch of the season. He concluded his year with the Timber Rattlers on a six-game hitting streak (12-for-26) with a homer and six RBI for the month of September.
Jones doubled - his 23rd of the season - to drive in a run in the first inning. Peoria came back with two runs in the bottom of the first. Jones came back to the plate in the top of the second inning with the bases loaded, two outs, and the score tied 2-2. He delivered a two-run singled and the Wisconsin was back in front. However, the Chiefs scored six times in the second and twice in the third for a 10-4 lead. Peoria stretched that lead out to 20-4 by the time Jones hit in the eighth. He singled and scored in the inning. The three-hit, three-RBI game was a definite silver lining on a cloudy day for the Rattlers.
2.) July 23 vs. Burlington: 4-for-5, three runs, RBI
By this point of the season, Jones was in the #3 spot in the Timber Rattlers order. He grounded out to short in the first inning. Then, he collected singles in his next four at bats. Jones singled on an 0-2 pitch in the third and scored later in the frame. In the fifth, Jones singled with one out and scored on a Bryan LaHair home run. In the sixth, he had another single and knocked in a run with to put the team up 9-1. He scored later in the sixth on a double by Eric Blakely. The Rattlers had an 11-1 lead after the bottom of the sixth and held on for an 11-9 win. Jones handled all four of his chances in the field flawlessly, including a 1-6-3 putout on a deflection off the glove of Ryan Feierabend to start the game.
1.) July 31 at Battle Creek: 2-for-5, two runs, two homers, five RBI
Adam Jones was born on August 1, 1985. This game against the Battle Creek Yankees was his final game as an 18-year-old. Jones went out with a bang.
In the first inning, Jones crushed a two-run home run off Tyler Clippard to put the Rattlers up 2-0. Clippard won the rematch by striking out Jones in the third.
The rubber match between Jones and Clippard came in the fifth inning. There were runners at second and third with one out after a sacrifice moved runners up a base. Clippard decided to go after Jones with first base open and the score tied 2-2. Jones jumped on the first pitch and hammered a home run for his first multi-home run game and his first 5-RBI game. The Rattlers would win this game 6-2.