Andruw Jones Should Have Been an All-time Great
By Tim Boyle
Mar 18, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Netherlands designated hitter Andruw Jones (25) warms up during batting practice before the game against Dominican Republic of the World Baseball Classic semifinal at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
When Andruw Jones made his major league debut with the Atlanta Braves in 1996 he was only 19-years old. Other teenagers were pulling all-nighters playing Playstation and concerned about when their pimples would stop sprouting, Jones was meanwhile making history.
He became the youngest player to ever hit a home run in the postseason and only the second ever to hit a home run in his first two at-bats in a World Series. It looked like Jones was headed towards a Hall of Fame career.
Logging only 106 at-bats in the 1996 regular season, Jones’ official rookie year followed in 1997. He finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting on a bit of a letdown. That season he hit 18 home runs and added 70 RBIs to go along with an improved upon .231 batting average.
In 1998, Jones got his feet under him. He raised his batting average a full 40 points from his previous seasons total. He also happened to hit 31 home runs and drove in 90 while showing off his speed. Jones swiped a career high 27 bases in 1998 and was only caught stealing four times all season.
The 1998 season also marked the beginning of consecutive honors for Jones’ outstanding, yet often appearing casual, fielding demeanor. Every year from 1998 through 2007, Jones was the recipient of a Gold Glove award. He had such great range it was un-productive hitting the ball anywhere near him because more often than not he would make the out.
Over the years, Jones got more consistent at the plate. His power increased and his batting average remained steady, actually rising to as high as .303 in 2000. From there he began to drive in 100 runs per season on a regular basis and provided much needed protection for the other Jones on the Braves’ roster, Chipper Jones.
Things were at their best in 2005 when Jones hit a career high and league leading 51 home runs. Adding to that, Jones led the league in RBI with 128. Receiving 13 of the NL MVP first place votes, Jones ultimately came up short of winning it to Albert Pujols. Pujols earned 84 per cent of the vote with Jones right behind him at 78 per cent.
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Starting out as young as he did, it seemed very realistic that Jones would eventually reach the revered 500 career home runs. Even a number like 600 seemed a possibility. From 1998 until his last season with the Braves in 2007, Jones averaged 34 home runs a season. At 30-years of age, he already had 368 of them. He was well on his way to satisfying everyone who predicted great things.
Suddenly, without much warning, Jones became a different player. With the Los Angeles Dodgers after signing a two-year deal before the 2008 season, Jones looked like he left his talent back in Atlanta.
Although he hit only .222 a year earlier, he still had 26 home runs and drove in 94 runs in his final season with the Braves. His first, and what would be only season with the Dodgers, ended with him becoming a bench player who hit only .158 with 3 home runs in 238 plate appearances.
The Dodgers made the decision to release Jones with one-year left on his contract. The Texas Rangers gave him a new home and another shot. With the Rangers in 2009, Jones hit only .214 with 17 home runs in 331 plate appearances. He had a very similar season the next year with the Chicago White Sox and finally two more with the New York Yankees in 2011 and 2012.
At 35, Jones played his last game in Major League Baseball. He finished with only a .254 career batting average along with 434 career home runs. Certainly the home run total is worthy of some respect, but based on what he could have done, it’s a very disappointing number.
The problem with Jones seemed to be his decline in batting average. From 2009-12, his 162 game average for home runs was still a very respectable 29. Unfortunately his .221 batting average during that time could not justify a manager writing his name in the lineup card daily.
Andruw Jones has spent his last two years playing Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan where he continues to put up similar numbers to the ones he did later on in his MLB career. Jones hit 26 home runs in 2013 and another 24 in 2014. If included with his 434 long balls launched in the United States, the Curaçao Kid needs only 16 more to reach 500 in his professional baseball career.