Jones Bases Loaded Drop

[El Gordo]

I saw him chomping the gum at bat today, he still had the gum.

He was chewing on something. Maybe it was his liver.

[El Gordo]

...had his mouth been absolutely empty I'd be more interested. He's very capable of doing something very similar while chewing seeds.

But to answer your question, even if he didn't want to try and show some accountability in an obvious way, I'll bet you dollars to donuts Buck is the kind of manager who would hate the bubble thing just as much as some here, but more for "I'm tired of seeing the bubble every time there's a mistake" variety. Insult to injury fashion, not any real belief it's messing him up. Plus, it's the easiest thing to make him stop as a penalty. You can chew gum again when I see you stop trying to hot dog every other play out there, Jones. That sorta thing.

If Buck didn't like AJ's gum it would be gone the way of Andino's hat long ago. BTW I keep looking at the play and I don't see how you could say he was hot dogging it, unless that was your agenda. He ran as hard as he could to where he thought the ball was coming down, slowed to ctach it but I don't see how he could have gotten to it soon enough to camp under it. It looked to me like the wind took a bit further to his right than he expected, and reaching back for it, it hit the heel of his glove.

[Gurgi]

I saw him with the seeds but at the very end of the game I saw a big wad of pink stuff in his mouth I assume was gum. So maybe this topic is done or maybe not. Adam is very stubborn so it may be a slow transition process.

[weams]

I saw him with the seeds but at the very end of the game I saw a big wad of pink stuff in his mouth I assume was gum. So maybe this topic is done or maybe not. Adam is very stubborn so it may be a slow transition process.

Ok. Well by all means then. If he can't quit it, continue to berate him for it

[Ommaculate]

What happens when Jones stops chewing gum, and then stops hitting? We would tell him to go chew the gum again. I doubt Buck will mess with Jones about the gum.

[jabba72]

Jones was using seeds and gum it appeared at the same time. There is alot going on in his mouth. Its just frustrating that he chooses to spits seeds or blow bubbles right at the moment the ball reaches his glove. Thats not an excuse for his somewhat lazy approach to certain flyballs, but it could also be part of it.

[El Gordo]

I have never been a big fan of Jones, but this thread is converting me. It is contributing to two phony myths: Jones is a hot dog, and Jones' stubborn insistence to chew bubble gum impedes his play and loses games.

[The Wedge]

If Buck didn't like AJ's gum it would be gone the way of Andino's hat long ago. BTW I keep looking at the play and I don't see how you could say he was hot dogging it, unless that was your agenda. He ran as hard as he could to where he thought the ball was coming down slowed to ctacg it but I don't see hwo he could have gotten to it soon enough to camp under it. It looked to me like the wind took a bit further to his right than he expected, and reaching back for it, it hit the heel of his glove.

Re: Buck, I was meaning that he doesn't actually think the gum is causing anything, he's just as tired of seeing the bubble on all the replays just like I am. If he's even half as cranky as I can be, even though he doesn't think its the cause, he might single it out to shake Jones up.

As for thinking it was hot dogging, its because he almost always seems to be running to his catches. It's not like that was a sudden wind gust out of nowhere. On a fly with any sort of height in windy situations, I was always taught to play to keep it in front and come in, as it was easier to adjust if the ball didn't get messed up by the wind if it was in front of you, but once it started getting over your head tracking it became more difficult. It irks me just as much that the ball heeled right off his glove, but that's actually something that might not have been his fault as much. That could have happened with him being right under it the whole time with sudden wind gusts.

I guess when I watch him make gaffes, I see all the stuff I was taught NOT to do at very low levels of ball before I see something like chewing gum, an action that after any sort of time becomes unconscious. :dunno:

[crissfan172]

Wow! 20 pages of Adam Jones bubble blowing and he goes to sunflower seeds today. Whatever the reason, it's kind of interesting.

Jones has always switched on and off between gum and seeds during games. People are just noticing it today because of this whole stupid debate.

[El Gordo]

Re: Buck, I was meaning that he doesn't actually think the gum is causing anything, he's just as tired of seeing the bubble on all the replays just like I am. If he's even half as cranky as I can be, even though he doesn't think its the cause, he might single it out to shake Jones up.

As for thinking it was hot dogging, its because he almost always seems to be running to his catches. It's not like that was a sudden wind gust out of nowhere. On a fly with any sort of height in windy situations, I was always taught to play to keep it in front and come in, as it was easier to adjust if the ball didn't get messed up by the wind if it was in front of you, but once it started getting over your head tracking it became more difficult. It irks me just as much that the ball heeled right off his glove, but that's actually something that might not have been his fault as much. That could have happened with him being right under it the whole time with sudden wind gusts.

I guess when I watch him make gaffes, I see all the stuff I was taught NOT to do at very low levels of ball before I see something like chewing gum, an action that after any sort of time becomes unconscious. :dunno:

On that play I don't see how he could have gotten to the ball in time to position himself so as to keep it in front of him. If you have a problem with the play I think it is with his positioning. He has been playing further back than earlier in his career. I wouldn't be one to be able to criticize his positing on that particular play. Wayne Kirby would. What always irked me about Jones were his emotional AB, where instead of staying within himself, he'd try to hit the 5 R HR and chase the SL low and away. But he seems to be making an effort to get away from that.

[The Wedge]

On that play I don't see how he could have gotten to the ball in time to position himself so as to keep it in front of him. If you have a problem with the play I think it is with his positioning. He has been playing further back than earlier in his career. I wouldn't be one to be able to criticize his positing on that particular play. Wayne Kirby would. What always irked me about Jones were his emotional AB, where instead of staying within himself, he'd try to hit the 5 R HR and chase the SL low and away. But he seems to be making an effort to get away from that.

Agreed, wholeheartedly. I'll admit that its hard to tell on that play last night whether he could have been positioned in time, but when I see him doing it all the time it starts to become a pattern whether directly relevant or not. That's just a human nature correlation for me. Plus, before I got hurt and was never the same, I had come to the conclusion that I was never going to be much of a hitter (slap hitter at best), so I focused a lot on my defense, so I see all that stuff I worked hard on getting thrown out the window and it irks me. And it even trips me up when I play 1864-66 rules (when my health allows anyway) because defensive fundamentals and tactics work differently in a game with no glove and where a ball caught on one bound is an out (but if you choose to do so any base runners can advance without tagging). Sometimes its just smarter to play for the bound, and frequently I've busted my backside to get in position when it was just as prudent to let it bounce. Well, prudent, but not manly, as is the constant jab through a lot of teams.

[isestrex]

What happens when Jones stops chewing gum, and then stops hitting? We would tell him to go chew the gum again. I doubt Buck will mess with Jones about the gum.

Bingo...

[Dodobirds]

And while we're at it, can we get him to chew with his mouth closed once in awhile? LOL!

Sorry - had to say it. I really do like Adam, & would mail him a pack of gum myself if he quit chewing and went on a prolonged hitting slump

[Ommaculate]

It can't be good for the jaw. He's going to get TMJ.

[LA2]

The Y's broadcasters during today's game focused less on Adam's drop--they seem to have a great deal respect for his defensive skills--and more on what they considered the fact that Wells had two home runs stiffed by the wind, one of which was the flyball in question. I was at the stadium and I must say that, off the bat, Pearce's drive in his third AB and at least one of Wells' did seem to be destined for the seats. They were high-arcing wallops that didn't carry like I expected them to.