Andruw Jones Is Going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Being a Braves fan in the 1990s was fun. Their minor league system was a pipeline of quality talent, and their front office always seemed to make one crucial deal every year to put them over the top. The result was 14 consecutive division titles between 1991 and 2005.

Chipper Jones is my favorite Braves player ever, since he was a Braves lifer. But, Andruw Jones was my favorite of the Jones Boys during Andruw’s time with the Braves. Admittedly, I was a little bitter when he chased some dollar signs to Los Angeles. As a Brave, however, few players were as fun to watch.

Andruw had a slightly complicated Hall of Fame resume. He only batted at a .254 clip for his full career, but batted .263 with the Braves, hitting 368 of his 434 home runs. Maybe the most memorable of those homers came in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series against the Yankees, when Jones, at 19 years old, hit two home runs, becoming the youngest player to homer in a World Series game.

But it was defense that became Jones’ calling card, as he was one of the most electric centerfielders in the game. He won 10 Gold Gloves, making him only one of four players to do so while also hitting over 400 homers. The other three are Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Schmidt. Jones and Mays are the only centerfielders to have 10 seasons with at least 150 games played and 25 homers. No other players had more than 4 seasons. In fact, those ten seasons are the most by any player while also winning a Gold Glove, for any position.

Really the only question surrounding Jones’s is why in the heck did it take so long for his induction? He really did fall off once he left the Braves, but his time in Atlanta should have more than spoken for itself. I’ll leave everyone with some career highlights.