This Sunday, Andruw Jones will take his rightful place among the greatest baseball players of all time as he is presented with his plaque signifying induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jones, one of the greatest center fielders to ever play the game, joined former Phillies greats Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard on the latest 6-1-1 Podcast to discuss getting the call to the Hall, his tremendous 17-year big league career, his son Drew -- the No. 14 prospect in the D-backs’ organization -- and much more as he prepares to receive the ultimate individual baseball honor this weekend.
“It was a good feeling,” Jones said of hearing his name announced as one of three former players (also Carlos Beltrán and Jeff Kent) in this year’s Hall of Fame class. Rollins, who was on hand to celebrate with Jones when it was revealed he was elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, had a three-word response: “We went crazy.”
Jones was a five-time All-Star and won 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Braves from 1998-2007, dazzling with spectacular defense in center field that included some of the most iconic plays of his era. He was also a right-handed slugger at the plate, belting 434 home runs during his illustrious career, including a career-high 51 for Atlanta in 2005.
A precocious phenom when the Braves signed him as a 16-year-old in 1993, Jones began the 1996 campaign at High-A in the Minor Leagues and ended it in the Fall Classic, in which he became the youngest player to homer in a World Series game.
At 19 years and 180 days old, Jones homered twice against the Yankees during Game 1 -- he slugged a two-run shot off left-hander Andy Pettitte in the second inning, and a three-run blast off reliever Brian Boehringer in the third.
“The Braves knew that for some reason [they had] big left-handed power,” Jones told Rollins and Howard of the circumstances surrounding his rapid ascension to the big leagues in 1996. “They wanted some right-handed power -- I think that year they brought Jermaine Dye up, too. So we both came through the Minor Leagues together.
“They knew we were going to be playing the Yankees, and the Yankees had a lot of left-handed pitchers. … So they threw me right there in the line of fire. … That’s the thing that I grew up on -- my dad always telling me to take advantage of the opportunity. If you don’t, you never know when you’re gonna get it. So I think that’s what I did.”
In an in-depth, wide-ranging interview, Rollins and Howard went on to discuss with Jones his elite defense in center behind the Braves’ “big three” starting pitchers and future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz; playing for Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox; Jones’ participation in the World Baseball Classic as a player and most recently as the manager for Team Netherlands; and much more.
You don’t want to miss the latest episode of the 6-1-1 Podcast featuring one of the newest members of the Hall of Fame, one whose storied baseball journey has taken him from Curaçao to Cooperstown.