Top 50 Players In Baltimore Sports History: 40-31

34. Adam Jones, OF, Baltimore Orioles

Jones should be a very familiar name to all of you. Not only is he one of the best outfielders in baseball today, but he could very well be the second-best outfielder in Orioles history. He was traded to the Orioles in 2008 in the most famous trade in Orioles history. The O’s sent ace Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, and three other players. Bedard has since then been on five different teams while Jones has been the heart and soul of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jones hit 19 home runs in his second and third year on the O’s before becoming a consistent 25+ home run hitter. He hit 25 home runs in 2011, 32 in 2012, and 33 in 2013. He has hit for an average of .280 or better in every year since 2010. Jones has been selected to four All-Star games in the last five years as well as grabbing three Gold Glove awards.

33. Rick Dempsey, C, Baltimore Orioles

Dempsey only hit 96 career home runs with a .233 career batting average while playing nearly a quarter of a century, so don’t put too much into what he did at the plate. After spending the first eight years of his career on the Twins and Yankees he would spend the next 11 seasons on the Orioles.

He became known for his exceptional ability to handle pitching staffs, his strong throwing arm, and for his agility behind home plate. In 1979, the Orioles defeated the California Angels in the 1979 American League Championship Series to reach the World Series.

The highlight of his career came in 1983, when the Orioles won the American League Eastern Division pennant, then defeated the Chicago White Sox in the 1983 American League Championship Series, before winning the 1983 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Dempsey posted a .385 batting average along with a .923 slugging percentage in the five-game series; and he won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, one of six catchers to have won the award.