By most reports, Adam Jones and the Orioles are due a clumsy divorce. When the team’s longest-tenured player nixed a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies in July, the club countered by benching Jones, a five-time All Star center fielder, in favor of players who may or may not fit into their future.
The snub doesn’t behoove a club which, generally, parts with its stars more favorably. When Cal Ripken Jr. decided to retire in 2001, following the last home game, the Orioles placed a lectern midway between the shortstop position and third base and let the Iron Man bask, for the umpteenth time, in the fans’ adulation.