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The Markakis Effect?
 10 days ago, Adam Jones was batting .255 with nine homeruns and 24 runs batted in. Then something happened. Not just the results, but his approach. Jones stopped doing the things that was destroying his season, and started doing the things that made him an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner in 2009.
Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. Adam Jones' turnaround is almost parellel with the comments that were made by Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis. The word clueless came from Markakis' comments and at times Jones seemed clueless. You could take what Markakis was saying and, at times, see Jones' game to be an exact description.
I'm not saying that Markakis was throwing darts at Jones, by any means. Maybe Jones listened to what his teammate had to say, and took it to heart. That's what winners do. Since that time, Jones has helped carry the Orioles to their first four-game winning streak of the 2010 season.
Over the past ten games, Jones is hitting .341 with three homeruns and nine runs batted in. More important than the numbers, or maybe the numbers are a direct result, but he has shown patience at the plate. He's appeared to have a purpose at the plate, and hasn't looked clueless. He's stayed away from the low and away fastball that once baffled Jones and made him a .240 hitter.
Now, he's a .271 hitter with 12 homeruns. He still needs to work on his on base percentage that is under .300, but there is progress in his game. He's back on pace to his around 25 long balls and drive in just less than 80 runs.
Call it the Markakis effect if you want, but right now, it looks as if Adam Jones has taken the challenge from the other half of his 2110 Eutaw Street tandem and turned his season around.
Rob Long
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