Apparently Adam Jones challenges the fans to some batting practice

[SilentJames]

Why? Whatever the reasons, his decline really can't be defended. After earning an all-star bid, he's been sub-mediocre (and that's putting it gently). Maybe the league figured him out. Maybe he's just not as good as we thought. Maybe he's losing concentration. Whatever the reason, he's terrible at the moment. And, when the team stinks, the best players become scapegoats...especially when the "best players" are the most obvious under-performers. I'm not sure how you can be surprised that he's being scapegoated, when his pathetic play is a big reason we don't score runs.

You can talk about his bad play all you want.

But now Jones doesn't get "bad hops" even when he does. He makes a joke and its OMG HE IS CHALLENGING THE FANS!!!!!!!!1 COmpletely ignoring all the other posts where he talks about "working harder" and "concentrating more" and "trying to relax".

He makes a comment about how is his Mom sends him messages during the games and it becomes OMG HE IS CHECKING MESSAGES IN THE LOCKER ROOM! (meanwhile we are all talking about this on a message board when we should be at work).

There seems to be a concerted effort by some on this board to characterize Jones not only as someone who is struggling, but someone who is struggling because of character issues and should be gotten rid of.

If it hasn't gotten to that point yet it will soon, just you wait.

[Dr. FLK]

You can talk about his bad play all you want.

But now Jones doesn't get "bad hops" even when he does. He makes a joke and its OMG HE IS CHALLENGING THE FANS!!!!!!!!1 COmpletely ignoring all the other posts where he talks about "working harder" and "concentrating more" and "trying to relax".

He makes a comment about how is his Mom sends him messages during the games and it becomes OMG HE IS CHECKING MESSAGES IN THE LOCKER ROOM! (meanwhile we are all talking about this on a message board when we should be at work).

There seems to be a concerted effort by some on this board to characterize Jones not only as someone who is struggling, but someone who is struggling because of character issues and should be gotten rid of.

If it hasn't gotten to that point yet it will soon, just you wait.

Well, when you have as much talent as he does and your performance degrades as significantly as his has, people are going to naturally look for reasons why. Maybe it's his concentration and maturity, maybe it's not...but people are going to make assumptions until he starts hitting again.

[Moose Milligan]

You can talk about his bad play all you want.

But now Jones doesn't get "bad hops" even when he does. He makes a joke and its OMG HE IS CHALLENGING THE FANS!!!!!!!!1 COmpletely ignoring all the other posts where he talks about "working harder" and "concentrating more" and "trying to relax".

He makes a comment about how is his Mom sends him messages during the games and it becomes OMG HE IS CHECKING MESSAGES IN THE LOCKER ROOM! (meanwhile we are all talking about this on a message board when we should be at work).

There seems to be a concerted effort by some on this board to characterize Jones not only as someone who is struggling, but someone who is struggling because of character issues and should be gotten rid of.

If it hasn't gotten to that point yet it will soon, just you wait.

Hey, it's bound to happen.

[SilentJames]

Well, when you have as much talent as he does and your performance degrades as significantly as his has, people are going to naturally look for reasons why. Maybe it's his concentration and maturity, maybe it's not...but people are going to make assumptions until he starts hitting again.

And that is fine - but temper it a bit guys. I don't see people complaining about Luke Scott chirping to the media about his role with the team and making assumptions about his commitment etc etc etc.

Luke Scott has done more outright complaining in the media. All this Jones stuff is conjecture, yet Scott doesn't seem to get the grief that Jones is getting....curious.

[Miller192]

You can talk about his bad play all you want.

But now Jones doesn't get "bad hops" even when he does. He makes a joke and its OMG HE IS CHALLENGING THE FANS!!!!!!!!1 COmpletely ignoring all the other posts where he talks about "working harder" and "concentrating more" and "trying to relax".

He makes a comment about how is his Mom sends him messages during the games and it becomes OMG HE IS CHECKING MESSAGES IN THE LOCKER ROOM! (meanwhile we are all talking about this on a message board when we should be at work).

There seems to be a concerted effort by some on this board to characterize Jones not only as someone who is struggling, but someone who is struggling because of character issues and should be gotten rid of.

If it hasn't gotten to that point yet it will soon, just you wait.

No one said that. You decided to escalate it to that point in your haste to defend Adam Jones.

Jones made a comment on the telecast about getting text messages during the game from his mother. SG and I were questioning whether that is worrisome WITH the disclosure that he certainly could be talking about getting those messages after the game.

I don't know why you are making this a bigger deal than anyone else here is.

[Moose Milligan]

And that is fine - but temper it a bit guys. I don't see people complaining about Luke Scott chirping to the media about his role with the team and making assumptions about his commitment etc etc etc.

Luke Scott has done more outright complaining in the media. All this Jones stuff is conjecture, yet Scott doesn't seem to get the grief that Jones is getting....curious.

Luke Scott isn't being seen as one of the keys to the future of the organization, either.

[japes121]

I'm with SJ on this topic all the way.

Because of our start, everything is magnified, and it just so happens that most of the frustration is being aimed at Jones.

This is completely a non-issue. If anything, I like that he has a personality and emotion.

Bottom line is, we have ZERO idea what he is really like. No one here hangs out with him. Therefore, the incessant declarations of his "ego" and "immaturity" and "selfishness" serves zero purpose.

This thread is concrete proof that the Hangout badly needs the Orioles to get back in the win column.

[Dr. FLK]

And that is fine - but temper it a bit guys. I don't see people complaining about Luke Scott chirping to the media about his role with the team and making assumptions about his commitment etc etc etc.

Luke Scott has done more outright complaining in the media. All this Jones stuff is conjecture, yet Scott doesn't seem to get the grief that Jones is getting....curious.

That's because he's not a star.

[ledzepp8]

SJ, you don't know for a minute what Jones does when he goes into the tunnel. Just because he doesn't send out twitter messages (I refuse to call them tweets) doesn't mean he isn't looking at them. Same with texts.

Now I'm not saying HE IS doing those things but you cannot deny that the possibility does NOT exist.

As far as being the whipping boy, I agree that a lot of fingers are being pointed in his direction but it's hard to say none of it is warranted. He is swinging horribly right now...and has been since June of last year.

That cannot be denied. As bad as the scapegoating is, the excuse making for him is just as bad. He's been a bad to horrible hitter for almost a year now. Buck up.

There's no denying that he hasn't been playing well. It's one thing to criticize his play. It's completely different to criticize his personality, character, work ethic, desire, etc when it's completely unfounded.

[SilentJames]

No one said that. You decided to escalate it to that point in your haste to defend Adam Jones.

Jones made a comment on the telecast about getting text messages during the game from his mother. SG and I were questioning whether that is worrisome WITH the disclosure that he certainly could be talking about getting those messages after the game.

I don't know why you are making this a bigger deal than anyone else here is.

SG totally said that! He brought it up!

He said: Anyone else have a problem with him checking his messages during the game, because I sure do!

When the statement Jones made could have easily meant that he checks them after the game but his Mom sends them during the game.

But people want to believe what they want to believe, they want a scapegoat and Jones seems to be the one.

Of course if he goes on anything resembling a tear we all know he is capable of then all of this will go away.

[Stotle]

And that is fine - but temper it a bit guys. I don't see people complaining about Luke Scott chirping to the media about his role with the team and making assumptions about his commitment etc etc etc.

Luke Scott has done more outright complaining in the media. All this Jones stuff is conjecture, yet Scott doesn't seem to get the grief that Jones is getting....curious.

Scott made a comment earlier this year about fans not getting it because they have never played ML ball, and many here jumped all over him. The bottom line is fans had high (too high) hopes for what Jones means to the future of the orgaization, and they are going to react strongly if he struggles for a prolonged time. He doesn't concern himself with being vanilla and always saying the safe thing in interviews (like a Jeter) so he is going to rub some people the wrong way.

Saying coaches want you to play shallower, but you're not sure if you are going to is going to rub some people the wrong way. Even worrying about what fans are saying to the point you are "joking" about BP challenges is going to rub some people the wrong way. I don't know him personally, but it seems like he is confident, a bit brash and his style is to play the game with some flash. That is going to rub SOME people the wrong way, regardless of how well he performs (let alone when he looks bad).

BAL has a team full of quiet "leaders" (BRob, Markakis, Wieters, etc.). Jones happens to be one of the keystone players that appears to enjoy the spotlight. As a result, he's going to be a lightening rod at times when things go poorly, but he's also going to get a lot of attention when things go right, too. It is what it is, and Jones can look in the mirror as much as he can point at others if this state of affairs isn't to his current liking.

[ledzepp8]

Why? Whatever the reasons, his decline really can't be defended. After earning an all-star bid, he's been sub-mediocre (and that's putting it gently). Maybe the league figured him out. Maybe he's just not as good as we thought. Maybe he's losing concentration. Whatever the reason, he's terrible at the moment. And, when the team stinks, the best players become scapegoats...especially when the "best players" are the most obvious under-performers. I'm not sure how you can be surprised that he's being scapegoated, when his pathetic play is a big reason we don't score runs.

Blaming the team's performance on his under-performance is one thing. Blaming his performance on ego, character issues, lack of desire, blowing bubbles, nonchalant attitude, Twitter, etc is completely different and it's all unfounded BS.

[Bosibus]

Yeah, but we have no proof he actually said that - there is no record of it.

But please, please forgive a guy for saying something in the heat of the moment he may have later regretted and deleted. I know that he is the first person in the history of human existence to have ever done that over something as significant as this, but let's try to understand - it was bound to happen sometime.

It was there yesterday morning and he def deleted it but I agree, he is pissed off at himself and probably the flurry of tweets that he is getting from fans is probably getting annoying. I hope he turns it around quick so all this can go away.

[Miller192]

I don't care about this but last night, during his interview, he mentioned how he gets texts from his mom during the game about slamming his helmet down, etc...

Now, it wasn't clear if he saw those texts during or after the game but if it was during, does anyone have a problem with the man checking his cell phone during the game? I know I sure as hell do.

SG totally said that! He brought it up!

He said: Anyone else have a problem with him checking his messages during the game, because I sure do!

When the statement Jones made could have easily meant that he checks them after the game but his Mom sends them during the game.

But people want to believe what they want to believe, they want a scapegoat and Jones seems to be the one.

Of course if he goes on anything resembling a tear we all know he is capable of then all of this will go away.

.....and SG acknowledged that. No one knows when he checks his messages. If he does it during the game then his focus elsewhere. If not, so be it.

Anyway, I'm done with this discussion.

[SilentJames]

Scott made a comment earlier this year about fans not getting it because they have never played ML ball, and many here jumped all over him. The bottom line is fans had high (too high) hopes for what Jones means to the future of the orgaization, and they are going to react strongly if he struggles for a prolonged time. He doesn't concern himself with being vanilla and always saying the safe thing in interviews (like a Jeter) so he is going to rub some people the wrong way.

Saying coaches want you to play shallower, but you're not sure if you are going to is going to rub some people the wrong way. Even worrying about what fans are saying to the point you are "joking" about BP challenges is going to rub some people the wrong way. I don't know him personally, but it seems like he is confident, a bit brash and his style is to play the game with some flash. That is going to rub SOME people the wrong way, regardless of how well he performs (let alone when he looks bad).

BAL has a team full of quiet "leaders" (BRob, Markakis, Wieters, etc.). Jones happens to be one of the keystone players that appears to enjoy the spotlight. As a result, he's going to be a lightening rod at times when things go poorly, but he's also going to get a lot of attention when things go right, too. It is what it is, and Jones can look in the mirror as much as he can point at others if this state of affairs isn't to his current liking.

But see, he hasn't said or done ANYTHING that is "Lightening Rod" worthy. I didn't see every other thread laced with crap against Scott when his statement was made.

People are reacting in a very ridiculous fashion to very innocuous things Jones has said and done.

Seriously, someone compared him to Elijah Dukes the other day, someone used Jones' name in the same sentence as Milton Bradley - really.