I consider Jones to be the goat of this game

[Gofannon]

Jones is a key member of the offense and has sucked for two weeks. He still gets the blame no matter what side of the ball we're talking about.

He gets some blame along with the rest of the offense, but there's no way he's the goat of the game. He took a bad angle on a ball that was blowing away from him and got a horrible break on the ball. I thought that ball was a lazy fly to center when it was hit. They showed the flags blowing straight out. It absolutely carried way further than any of us imagined. Anyone who would suggest he was coasting after that ball is wrong.

Honestly, if he had run after the ball the same way without blowing a bubble, people wouldn't be half as bothered about him. It would just go down as a misplay. Does anyone really think he's running after the ball, thinking "Gotta blow a bubble" and starts cadillacing after it?

He is only part of an offense of guys that I have absolutely no confidence in right now. The only guys you want up at the plate are McLouth and Davis. It's almost impossible to win with the lack of production we're getting from this lineup over the last 10 days.

All three of our All-Stars - Wieters, Jones and Johnson - have let us down. All three hurt us tonight in their own ways. There is no way this gets pinned on Jones.

[BehindTimes]

It was a team loss, and I don't blame Jones for the loss alone. The way Ibanez has been clutch for the past couple weeks and the mediocrity of the rest of the Yankees tonight at bat, I probably would have walked him, but what do I know? The one thing that separates the Yankees though from the Orioles is plate discipline. Tonight at his last at bat is the first time in the post season Adam Jones did not swing at the first pitch (it ended up being a strike). That's a key reason why while the O's are taking out their pitcher in the 7th inning, the Yankees can keep their pitchers in until the 9th and barely use relief pitching.

[Mondo Trasho]

Is Jones the goat of this game? I dunno. I'd like to think he could have gotten that fly ball Jeter hit. Wieters has struggled, Hardy has struggled. I honestly don't know who gets the blame.

Adam is supposed to be the leader though. So some of it has to fall on him. Right?

[Brooks The Great]

He gets some blame along with the rest of the offense, but there's no way he's the goat of the game. He took a bad angle on a ball that was blowing away from him and got a horrible break on the ball. I thought that ball was a lazy fly to center when it was hit. They showed the flags blowing straight out. It absolutely carried way further than any of us imagined. Anyone who would suggest he was coasting after that ball is wrong.

Honestly, if he had run after the ball the same way without blowing a bubble, people wouldn't be half as bothered about him. It would just go down as a misplay. Does anyone really think he's running after the ball, thinking "Gotta blow a bubble" and starts cadillacing after it?

He is only part of an offense of guys that I have absolutely no confidence in right now. The only guys you want up at the plate are McLouth and Davis. It's almost impossible to win with the lack of production we're getting from this lineup over the last 10 days.

All three of our All-Stars - Wieters, Jones and Johnson - have let us down. All three hurt us tonight in their own ways. There is no way this gets pinned on Jones.

How can you not notice that Jones clearly wasn't running at full speed at any time going after the ball? Unless he lost it in the lights, at some point he has to realize it was hit farther than he first thought and he has to turn it on. If he runs at full sprint at any point, he either gets to the ball, or he is close enough to jump/dive and make a likely catch. He coasted, bottom line.

[Gofannon]

Remind me if Jones has done ANYTHING at the plate that has made a real difference in 4 playoff games or even longer that that.

Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Thome are currently a combined 4 for 46 in this series with no RBI.

[Rex Thunder]

It's insane to put it on any one player. If Hardy or Wieters or Thome or Davis gave us ANYTHING at the plate, that one run probably wouldn't have mattered.

Very true. In the same vein, Hardy or Wieters would have been goats two nights ago... but JJ didnt give that one up.

[RVAbird]

I don't think he was "dogging it" either. But he was playing the ball too casually, instead of running at close to full speed and then slowing down as the ball arrived. I do think Jones likes to make plays look smooth and effortless as opposed to making sure he doesn't make a mistake. Today it burned him.

I think there's some merit to accusing Jones of this at times in his career. I just strongly disagree about this particular play. I've watched the play about 5 times now. I see a guy who made every mistake he could have on a play. I don't see a guy trying to be casual on a ball he had tracked. I see a guy who was lost in the headlights the second the ball came off the bat.

[blid]

I realize JJ blew the save and Matusz got the loss, but to me Jones' "too cool for school" pursuit of Jeter's fly ball makes him the goat of the game. The 9th inning HR by ibanez doesn't matter if Jones makes a catch that should have been made.

It was a catch he should have made, but it's wrong to call it "too cool for school." He just misread the ball, and the wind didn't help.

[Rex Thunder]

How can you not notice that Jones clearly wasn't running at full speed at any time going after the ball? Unless he lost it in the lights, at some point he has to realize it was hit farther than he first thought and he has to turn it on. If he runs at full sprint at any point, he either gets to the ball, or he is close enough to jump/dive and make a likely catch. He coasted, bottom line.

Okay, it's frustrating and I want to agree, but seriously, who r u? The man is a gold glove center fielder. It's OBVIOUS the wind was carrying that ball and it wasn't as "routine" as we want to believe. I don't think for a second he was slacking. The ball just got away form him as he underestimated the wind carrying the ball. If I was an impartial fan, I'd swear the Yankees have God on their side, the little things like that going their way... a 40 year old former PEDS user (accused anyway) hitting two homeruns while a 200 million lineup couldnt do anything but one lucky wind aided run.

[jjnono]

Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Thome are currently a combined 4 for 46 in this series with no RBI.

No one needs to look any further than this to figure out why we are down 2-1.

[FlipCup]

Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Thome are currently a combined 4 for 46 in this series with no RBI.

AJ is supposed to be our leader. He was the MVO. Right now, he isn't playing like it. Whether it's age or non-patience, he hasn't played like a leader. Sadly, he hasn't. AS much as i love the guy, he hasn't.

[TonySoprano]

Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Thome are currently a combined 4 for 46 in this series with no RBI.

look, a bunch of them have forgotten how to work a freakin' pitch count, no doubt. Jones was the one recently shooting off his mouth about stepping up on defense when you're not hitting. How's that working out tonight, AJ?

[ADZ23]

Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Thome are currently a combined 4 for 46 in this series with no RBI.

Jones has an RBI if Hardy doesn't inexplicably stop at 3rd in game 2.

The overall execution in this series leaves a bit to be desired.

[Eddie_Murray33]

Not entirely Jones' fault- but he and Wieters are looking an awful lot like Bonds/Bonilla in their early Pirates playoff days (90-92)... It's killing us...

[blid]

How can you not notice that Jones clearly wasn't running at full speed at any time going after the ball? Unless he lost it in the lights, at some point he has to realize it was hit farther than he first thought and he has to turn it on. If he runs at full sprint at any point, he either gets to the ball, or he is close enough to jump/dive and make a likely catch. He coasted, bottom line.

But here's the thing about the whole "gliding" complaint: if a player sprints to where he THINKS the ball is going to be, and it ends up going further in the direction of that sprint, sure, he's in a better position. But what if it ends up being a bit in the opposite direction? It could go this way or that way. Players will always automatically pace themselves to try to end up where the ball is going in a natural way and that's all Jones was doing, and I don't think it'd be easy or maybe even make sense to try to force them not to. He could have caught it, absolutely, and in my opinion it was an error on him, but I don't blame someone for timing their way to where the they think the ball is going to be and then adjusting as they see adjustments necessary. I don't think it was an error in Jones's approach, I just think it was an error in his perception. He didn't realize where it was going until too late.