Andruw Jones

Andruw Rudolf Jones (born April 23, 1977) is a former professional baseball center fielder from Curaçao. Over 17 MLB seasons, he spent most of his prime with the Atlanta Braves, but also suited up for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees, plus a stint in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Known for elite glovework, Jones won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for outfielders every year from 1998 through 2007. He also had a powerful throwing arm. A five-time All-Star, he earned a Silver Slugger Award for outfielders in 2005.

Jones broke into the majors with Atlanta in 1996. During that year’s World Series, he became the youngest player ever to hit a postseason home run and only the second to homer in his first two World Series at-bats. The next season, he placed fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. His offensive numbers climbed over the next two years, and in 2000 he batted .303 with 36 homers and 104 RBIs, earning his first All-Star nod.

He drew frequent comparisons to Willie Mays and was considered one of the game’s top center fielders. From 1998 through 2002, he led all center fielders in putouts and total zone runs five straight years. In 2001, he again topped 30 homers and 104 RBIs, though his average fell to .251 and his strikeouts rose. He followed with All-Star seasons in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, he failed to hit 30 homers for the first time since 1999 and began a pattern of exceeding 100 strikeouts. The next year, he led the National League with 51 homers and 128 RBIs, finishing second in MVP voting to Albert Pujols. His average continued to drop and his strikeouts kept climbing after that. Following a productive 2006 that included a career-high 129 RBIs, he posted his weakest season to date in 2007, hitting just .222. During his Atlanta tenure, Jones became one of the youngest players ever to reach 300 career home runs.

After 2007, he signed a two-year, $36.2 million free-agent deal with the Dodgers. But he struggled mightily, batting .158 with three homers and 14 RBIs, and was released shortly after the season. He finished his MLB career with short stints for the Rangers, White Sox, and Yankees, shifting from starting center fielder to designated hitter and backup outfielder. While with the White Sox in 2010, he hit his 400th career home run. Jones was later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first player from Curaçao to receive that honor.

Born in Willemstad, Curaçao, Jones was playing on a youth select team that traveled to Japan for a tournament by age 11. He could handle any position, but his strong arm often landed him at catcher or third base. A couple of years later, he moved to the outfield. He signed with the Braves as a 16-year-old free agent in 1993. After just 27 games in the Gulf Coast League, he was promoted to Danville in the Appalachian League. In 1995, playing for Class-A Macon, he homered in his first at-bat and finished with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs. He also led the South Atlantic League with 56 steals and was named minor league player of the year by USA Today and Baseball America.

The Braves called him up on August 15, 1996, when he was 19. In his first MLB game, he went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run. The next game, he had a home run and a triple. On August 22, he recorded his first multi-homer game against the Reds.

He initially played right field because center fielder Marquis Grissom was already established. He finished the regular season batting .217 with five homers and 13 RBIs. In the NLCS against the Cardinals, he hit .222 with a home run and three RBIs, and the Braves advanced to the World Series. In Game 1 of the 1996 World Series on October 20, Jones hit two home runs in his first two at-bats, leading Atlanta to a 12-1 win over the Yankees.

At 19 years, 180 days, he became the youngest player to homer in a World Series, breaking Mickey Mantle’s record on what would have been Mantle’s 65th birthday. He joined Gene Tenace as the only other player to homer in his first two World Series at-bats.

In 1997, Jones became the Braves’ everyday right fielder. He hit his first homer of the season off Jeff McCurry of the Rockies, had a second multi-homer game against the Cubs on July 22, and went 3-for-3 with a homer and five RBIs against the Red Sox on August 31. He finished his rookie year batting .231 with 18 homers, 70 RBIs, and 20 steals, placing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. In 1998, he moved to center field nearly full-time and had a much better season. He hit his 30th homer of the year against Florida on September 13 and won his first of ten straight Gold Gloves. In the NL Division Series, he went 0-for-...