Cap10’s Farewell: Adam Jones’s Game-Worn Jersey From His Final Orioles Game

On September 30, 2018, Adam Jones jogged out of the home dugout at Camden Yards for what turned out to be his last game as an Oriole, and he ran out alone. His teammates stayed back in the dugout so he could stand by himself in center field during a long ovation from the crowd, and Jones didn’t realize what was happening until he reached second base and turned around. The rest of the day was a tribute. He was honored as Most Valuable Oriole before the game and spent time beforehand taking a lap around the ballpark, handing out bats and balls to fans. Fans stood before each of his at-bats, and in the top of the ninth, Joey Rickard replaced him and Jones left to yet another standing ovation. The Orioles won 4-0 over the Astros to close out a season in which they lost 115 games, only the fifth team since 1900 to lose that many, but the scoreboard hardly mattered that afternoon.

This is the jersey Jones wore for that game, and it marks the end of one of the defining eras in Orioles history. Jones spent 11 of his 14 major league seasons in Baltimore, hitting 263 home runs and driving in 866 runs over 1,613 games, and he became the face of the franchise and the heartbeat of the teams that brought winning baseball back to the city. He had even exercised his right to refuse a trade to the Phillies at the 2018 deadline, choosing to finish the season in Baltimore through a rebuilding year. That loyalty is a big part of why the farewell felt so personal to fans, and why a five-time All-Star’s last Orioles jersey carries so much weight. For anyone who remembers Cap10 leading the team onto the field at Camden Yards, this is the uniform from the day the city said goodbye.