Adam Jones: ‘End of an era’ for Showalter
On eve of perhaps finale as Oriole, outfielder says manager held players accountable
Over the past several days, Orioles manager Buck Showalter has been asked to measure Adam Jones’ impact on the franchise.
And as today could potentially be the final game with the club for both longtime fixtures with their contracts expiring at the end of the season, Jones was asked after Saturday’s doubleheader what Showalter has meant to the organization.
“I think to the franchise, he’s just meant accountability,” Jones said of Showalter, who has been the Orioles manager since August 2010 and ranks second on the club’s all-time wins list. “I think he holds everybody accountable. He holds himself to a high standard. He holds his players to a high standard, and at the end of the day, that’s all we ask. He’s not my father. He’s not anything [like] that. But he’s the manager, he’s the leader of the team. We go with his heartbeat. He’s always been focused and in the game. If the coaching staff can be focused in the game, I think the players can, too. That’s one thing that once they came here, I’ve seen that. Just show up to work, play hard and go home. After that, he has no excuses.”
Showalter’s contract ends in October, and whether the club keeps him as it continues to rebuild remains in question.
Before Saturday’s game, Jones and his wife, Audie, were recognized for a joint $150,000 donation to several local nonprofits.
“When I first got here, I didn’t want him to be a ‘do as I say, not as I do,’ ” Showalter said. “I told him, ‘Hey, you’re going to be one of my best players, if not the best, and your actions have to back up what you say. And that’s kind of what this is about for me. Adam can talk about any subject you want to talk about. You may not agree with him on it. He has an opinion that’s based on some passionate thought. That’s kind of this. He’s not just going to talk about it. He’s going to do something. … I think that’s an example of it.”
Jones said Showalter, who arrived midway through Jones’ third season with the Orioles, gave the team more cache.
“Ever since he came here on Aug. 3, 2010, the franchise just gained a little more accountability,” Jones said, “and gained an edge for some time. It’s the end of an era on his part, too. He was a great manager. Great tenure. I don’t know if he’s going to coach or manage again, but he’s got grandchildren. Hell, go golf. Relax and go sit on a golf course.”
But as Hess, 25, made his final start of the 2018 season in the Orioles’ 2-1 loss to the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, he completed a two-month run in which he might have been the team’s most consistent starting pitcher, another label that must be taken in context.
Still, on Friday night, Hess ended his rookie campaign by holding a formidable lineup to three hits over seven innings. He kept the Astros scoreless for most of his outing, his only mistake coming on a full-count hanging slider to Josh Reddick that landed on the flag court in right field in the sixth for Houston’s only run off him.
“He was really good,” Showalter said. “That was fun to watch. It was good to see him end on a good note. I really wanted him to have a good outing. That was good to see. I told him that. I didn’t want to push it any more than that. Anytime you see a young pitcher go against a good team for a third time around the batting order and still be able to get outs, that’s good to see.”
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