Adam Jones picked quite a spot for his coming-out party, didn't he?

After a half-season of quiet, steady improvement, the O's young outfielder came within a hair's breadth of hitting for the cycle at a night game in the last season at Yankee Stadium. He took care of the home run portion of the would-be cycle in grand fashion, clearing the bases with a monster home run that put a large exclamation point on an Oriole rout. You could see the disappointment on his face as he smoked a would-be double in his last at-bat that instead settled into a fielder's glove. But he settled for a single, triple, and home run, going 3 for 6 with 5 RBI.

According to our recent discussion with Mike Flanagan, Jones has already surpassed their expectations for 2008. They had projected more of a struggle, looking for a batting average between .240 and .260, with perhaps a little more game power than he has displayed to date. Early on, it looked as though those projections might be in line with Jones' production. He quietly struggled in the eight hole, foundering against breaking pitches and swinging at everything that came anywhere close to the strike zone.

As the months passed, though, Jones demonstrated that he does indeed love to learn - and can put the lessons to good use. After hitting .252 over the first two months, he hit a robust .323 in June, while raising his slugging average 140 points. Dave Trembley had been searching for a player to slip into the two hole for a good while, and finally made the move to Jones. Would this be the youngster's undoing?

No way. Seeing more good pitches to hit only accelerated the demonstration of his learning curve; he's hit .304 in July, with another 40 points added to his slugging percentage. Overall, he's hit .278 in the #2 hole, with an OPB of .322.

In addition to his constant improvement as a hitter, he's played a solid center field, displaying all the tools of an eventual fielding star. He's also proved to be likeable, humble, articulate, and a good guy to be around.

He certainly has areas to work on. Right now, he's more of a doubles machine, but more of those doubles should turn into home runs as he matures. He needs to walk more to be a top-flight offensive player (his OBP is only .320; Kevin Millar's is 25 points higher.) He hasn't been much of a threat on the basepaths.

But all those things look to be on the way, not wishful thinking.

In a lot of ways, it's hard to believe how good he's been; the Orioles' luck/skill at trades for young talent hasn't exactly been stellar in the past, and even Brady Anderson struggled for a couple of seasons before becoming an offensive force.

There's a genuine possibility that in the coming years, O's fans will look back at that night at Yankee Stadium and smile to themselves - as they remember How It All Began for Adam Jones.