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Jones' award latest in storied lineage

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By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

11/18/09 9:25 PM EST

There's no shortage of hardware in the Orioles' trophy case.

Not when you've accumulated five Most Valuable Player Awards, six Cy Youngs, five Sporting News Manager of the Year Awards -- plus two from the Baseball Writers' Association of America -- six Rookies of the Year, three World Series MVPs, 59 Rawlings Gold Gloves and 17 Silver Sluggers.

And it's hard to glance through the mementos without seeing the name "Cal Ripken Jr." inscribed.

Ripken, the Hall of Fame infielder who spent all 21 of his illustrious big league seasons in Baltimore, has a hand in all of the Orioles' player awards except, of course, the Cy Young or skipper awards -- though perhaps he could've earned one of those, too, if he gave pitching or managing a shot.

The revolutionary shortstop -- and eventual third baseman -- compiled two of the Orioles' latest MVPs, eight Silver Sluggers, a Rookie of the Year Award and two Gold Gloves.

The Robinsons haven't done so bad, either.

Brooks Robinson, arguably the greatest defensive third baseman of all time, notched 16 of the Orioles' Gold Gloves, plus a regular-season MVP in 1964 and a World Series MVP in '70

Frank Robinson, meanwhile, was a regular-season and World Series MVP in 1966 -- a year when he batted .316 with 49 homers and 122 RBIs in the regular season, then .286 with two home runs in a four-game sweep of the Dodgers in the Fall Classic -- and was named Manager of the Year by Sporting News and the BBWAA in '89.

Had the Silver Slugger Award started before 1980, the Robinsons would've compiled a few of those, too.

Then there's Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame right-hander who compiled 268 wins, a 2.86 ERA and 2,212 strikeouts in 19 seasons in the big leagues -- all in Baltimore.

Palmer is responsible for half of the Orioles' Cy Young Awards, having compiled three in four years from 1973-76.

There have been some recent Orioles receiving offseason awards, too, but the franchise has mostly been on a dry spell for a few years.

Baltimore hasn't had an MVP since 1991 (Ripken) a Cy Young since '80 (Steve Stone), a Manager of the Year since '97 (Davey Johnson) and a Rookie of the Year since '89 (Gregg Olson).

In fact, the only major offseason awards won by the Orioles since the new millennium were four Silver Sluggers -- two by Miguel Tejada and one each from Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff -- and Adam Jones' Gold Glove in 2009.

In '09, Jones had nine assists and finished with more putouts (349) than he did in '08 (336) despite playing in 11 fewer games and nearly 100 fewer innings.

It was the first time the Orioles had a Gold Glove winner since Mike Mussina in 1999, and Jones became the first outfielder to claim one since Paul Blair in '75.

Perhaps Jones' Gold Glove can reverse the recent trend of Orioles' offseason awards.

"It can put Baltimore back on the map," said Jones, who also batted .277 with 19 homers and 70 RBIs this season. "It's been kind of the hidden city over the last decade, because the Yankees and Red Sox have been overshadowing people. Hopefully, everybody on our team gets recognized, because we have a very good team. It's young and raw, but I think we have a very good team."

Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.