In 2012, Adam Jones walked into Camden Yards to make an announcement.
The news conference was a little fuller than usual. Certainly, there were the reporters and team staffers one would expect for a contract extension. There were teammates and family, too. At the age of 26, Jones was already a fixture in the Orioles organization.
There were also 15 players from the Gardenville Grays, a Baltimore Little League team in which Jones had invested time and money. He was around so often that they didn’t view Jones, now a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner, as one of those standoffish celebrities you have to tiptoe around.