Andruw Jones played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, most notably with the Atlanta Braves. Throughout his career, which ended in Japan in the Nippon Professional Baseball, Jones played at an elite level as a defensive outfielder, winning the Gold Glove every year between 1998 and 2007.
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Jones is on the Hall of Fame ballot for the fourth time in 2020. While considered a longshot to make the hall, Jones had a noteworthy career, including becoming the youngest player to ever hit a home run in the World Series.
He retired from MLB at the age of 35, playing his last two seasons with the New York Yankees.
Andruw Jones Early Life
Jones was born April 23, 1977 in Willemstad, Curaçao, the capital city of the Caribbean island. His father, Henry, had been one of the island’s best players in the 1960s and 1970s. Jones followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a player on a youth team that traveled to Japan for a tournament when Jones was just 11.
Jones first played either catcher or third, base, but eventually switched to the outfield. In his teen years, he had become so good that he played on the Curaçao national team in the Latin American Games.
Even though the island was not a place MLB scouts visited, the Braves signed Jones when he was just 16. He spent just 27 days with the Braves farm team in West Palm Beach, Florida, before getting promoted to Danville of the Appalachian League.
By 1995, he reached the Single-A team in Macon, Georgia. That year, he had 25 home runs, 100 RBI, and 56 steals. The Braves promoted him to the big club in 1996.
Andruw Jones MLB Career Highlights
Jones hit well when he was brought up to the big club, but pitchers quickly adjusted to him and he ended the season in a slump. However, he made the team for the playoffs because of his speed and defensive ability. At the age of 19, Jones homered twice in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, making him the youngest player to ever hit a World Series home run. He broke a record long held by Mickey Mantle, who homered in a World Series game when he was 20.
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The Braves lost that series, but they had found a star in Jones. The next year, 1997, Jones hit 18 home runs, knocked in 70 runs, scored 60 and stole 20 bases. He won Rookie of the Year honors and his career took off.
Between 1998 and 2007, Jones played at an elite level. He won 10 Gold Gloves in a row. He hit more than 30 home runs in seven of those years, and never had less than 26. In 2005, he led the league in home runs with 51 and RBI with 128.
He also had at least 90 RBI in nine of those 10 seasons, and more than 100 in five of them. Unfortunately, the Braves never matched his greatness. After winning another National League pennant in 1999 and again losing to the Yankees, the Braves never made it back to the Fall Classic.
After 2007, now 30 years old, Jones left Atlanta and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Yankees. Jones then played two years with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan’s Pacific League, helping the team win a championship.
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Jones attempted to return to MLB, but was not successful. He officially retired in February 2016. Shortly afterward, the Braves hired him as a special assistant to baseball operations, working with outfielders.
Jones is one of only six players to win 10 Gold Gloves. The others are Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Al Kaline, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki. All but Ichiro are in the Hall of Fame, and many expect the Japanese native to make the hall when he becomes eligible in 2025.
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