Orioles' Jones won't talk to Showalter about wild-card game
No matter how much it may hurt, Adam Jones is going to let this sleeping dog lie.
The Baltimore Orioles center fielder has spent much of the winter replaying his team's gut-wrenching loss in this year's AL wild-card game, which infamously ended with a walk-off, three-run homer by Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion off Ubaldo Jimenez while Baltimore's All-Star closer Zach Britton controversially watched from the bullpen.
Showalter's decision not to use Britton - who converted all 47 save opportunities in 2016 and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting after posting a 0.54 ERA - left many observers, including Jones, shaking their heads in disbelief. Although Jones still disagrees with how his manager handled that situation, he hasn't brought that concern up with Showalter during their conversations early this winter - and doesn't plan to do so any time soon.
"I didn't talk to him about that," Jones told Ian Browne of MLB.com while attending David Ortiz's charity golf tournament in the Dominican Republic on Friday. "That's like beating a dead horse. He knows. And with Showalter, you know that ain't going to happen again. He made the mistake once. It will never happen again. ...
"It's crazy because Showalter is such a mental guy and he mentally hurt himself."
Even though Jones claims he would have managed that game differently and called on Britton - "I would have thrown him out there and let him go because he brings energy," he explained - the 31-year-old maintains there are no hard feelings between him and his skipper despite the gaffe that handed the Orioles an early start to their winter. In fact, Jones said he and Showalter have become very tight over nearly seven years together in the Charm City.
"I talk to him all the time. He's the leader of the pack," Jones said. "I make sure that the leader is good. I make sure that everything is good. I make sure to mow his lawn a couple of times in the offseason in Baltimore.
"You'll see me and my boy, I take my dog over there and mow his 10 acres. Sit on the John Deere. I know lawns. It's become more than just a business relationship. My wife has become really good friends with his wife. They're able to offer us life advice."