Atlanta Braves: 5 Reasons Andruw Jones Belongs in MLB Hall of Fame
MLB Hall of Fame voting is currently underway, so we’ll look at why former Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones should be in.
The Atlanta Braves have had quite the run of success with players getting into the MLB Hall of Fame recently with Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones all getting into Cooperstown.
But there is still one player missing from that group who deserves to get in as well, and that’s Andruw Jones.
Growing up I cherished the MLB Hall of Fame and thought it was the mecca of my favorite sport. It was different from other sports’ Hall of Fames, because only the greatest were elected into Cooperstown.
But over the past several years that sentiment has changed quite a bit for me. I no longer view Cooperstown as this magical place, but rather I view the same of the NFL or NBA Hall of Fames — just another museum.
The way the MLB Hall of Fame committee has handled the steroid era is a joke. They won’t give the voters any kind of guideline as to how they should vote for these players. So we are left with a crowded list of players who have Hall of Fame numbers, but some question whether they did it clean.
As a result, we have players that didn’t use steroids during the 1990s and early 2000s who are being punished.
I don’t feel as strongly as other Braves fans about Fred McGriff being a Hall of Fame player, but he is certainly somehow whose chances have been hurt because he played in the steroid era where numbers were inflated.
But I write this article because it sickens me to see the lack of attention Andruw Jones is getting on the Hall of Fame ballot. Anyone who watched him day in and day out knows he was a Hall of Fame player, and here are five reasons why.
His Defense
The first reason is obvious, and it’s all about his defense. To be honest, this is the single most reason Andruw Jones belongs in the Hall of Fame.
For 10 straight seasons, Andruw Jones was the best defensive center fielder in the game, which was made evident by him winning 10 straight Gold Glove awards.
There really is no other way to explain the greatness of Andruw Jones defense other than to see it, so I strongly encourage you to search for and watch some of his highlight reels … you’re welcome.
Even the videos don’t do justice to how great Andruw was roaming center field. If you ask any of the big three (Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz) why there were so successful in Atlanta, they’ll tell you a big part of it was because they knew who was in center field.
There is no telling how many outs Andruw saved, and how many runs he kept off the board.
I have no doubt that he is the greatest defensive center fielder I’ve ever seen, and he could probably make a case for being the best defensive center fielder of all-time.
Again, that reason alone should be enough for Andruw to be a Hall of Famer, but we’ll continue with some other reasons for the icing on the cake.
Because Ozzie Smith is In
I want to start by saying that I am not trying to discredit Ozzie Smith in any way. He is my favorite player of all-time and the reason I played shortstop growing up.
But the fact is, Ozzie Smith is in the Hall of Fame because of his defense, and because many view him as the great defensive player of all-time.
We already talked about how Andruw Jones is possibly the greatest defensive center fielder of all-time, so if Ozzie is in, then I don’t understand why Andruw isn’t in as well.
When you look at Ozzie’s numbers on offense he had a career average of .262 with 1,257 runs scored, a slugging percentage of .328, 793 RBI, and 580 stolen bases.
Andruw hit .254 over his career with a slugging percentage of .486, 1,204 runs scored, 1,289 RBI, and 152 stolen bases. They both had an on-base percentage of .337.
Obviously, Jones has better power numbers and Ozzie has better speed numbers (runs and stolen bases), but Andruw wasn’t terrible in those areas either.
Point being, you can’t put Ozzie Smith into the Hall of Fame on those offensive numbers alone. He got in the Hall of Fame because of his extraordinary defense, and that being the case, so should Andruw Jones.
A Decade of Excellence
One of the requirements for being considered to make the Hall of Fame is that the player had to be in the league for at least 10 years. That’s to make sure players who were just a flash in the pan don’t get considered for the Hall of Fame. They want to make sure this player was one of the best players in the game for a decade.
That’s certainly what Andruw Jones did from 1997-2006.
Starting in 1997 he finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting after hitting 18 home runs and stealing 20 bases.
If you go back to the 1996 season, one of Andruw’s most memorable moments came we he hit two home runs as a 19-year-old in the World Series.
In 1998 he started a run of winning 10 straight Gold Gloves, showing he was the best defensive center fielder in the game for a decade.
From 1998 to 2006 he hit 26 or more home runs in every season. And in all but two of those seasons, he hit 31 or more. He also had five seasons during that stretch where he had 104 or more RBI.
Andruw received MVP consideration in five of those 10 years, finishing second in 2005 when he hit .263 with 51 home runs and 128 RBI.
During that span he also was selected to the All-Star game five times and won a Silver Slugger award.
Based on those facts, it’s pretty clear that Andruw Jones was one of the best players in our game for a decade.
Because of the Era He Played In
We talked briefly about how certain players are discredited for the work they did during the steroid era, and I think that applies to Andruw Jones.
Andruw Jones has never been speculated of using steroids or performance-enhancing drugs, so I’m basing this off of that notion.
Jones put up several seasons in which he would have normally gotten more consideration for the MVP award, or other awards like the Silver Slugger, had there not been steroid users.
I look back to the 2000 season when I think Andruw had one of his best years hitting .303 with a .366 on-base percentage, 122 runs scored, 36 home runs, 104 RBI, 21 stolen bases, and a slugging percentage of .541.
Not only did he not win the MVP award that season with those numbers, but he finished eighth. They guys in front of him were: Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Jim Edmonds, Todd Helton, Vladimir Guerrero, and Jeff Bagwell.
At least four of those players have been suspected of using steroids, and three of them are already in the Hall of Fame (Todd Helton is in his first year on the ballot).
Compare Andruw’s number that season to the MVP season Christian Yelich had in 2018. Yelich hit .326 with a .402 on-base percentage, 118 runs scored, 36 home runs, 110 RBI, and a .463 slugging percentage.
Yelich’s average and OBP are higher, but everything else is pretty much the same. That’s the kind of competition Andruw should have been facing during his career, not the inflated numbers put up by steroid users.
He Deserves to Be In
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I know I’m speaking from the standpoint of a Braves fan who might be a little biased, but the bottom line is that Andruw Jones deserves to be in the MLB Hall of Fame.
In the past I’ve been as strict to say that if you aren’t a first ballot Hall of Famer, then you aren’t a Hall of Famer, so I really think you have to earn your way into Cooperstown.
And I’ve never felt as strongly about someone needing to get in as I do about Andruw Jones. In my opinion, he is getting a raw deal because of the way his career ended, and people are forgetting just how great he was for an entire decade.
Again, if you didn’t watch Andruw Jones every night as I did, you may not have realized how valuable he was to those Braves teams in the late 90s and early 2000s. And that in itself is a problem with the Hall of Fame voting because there is no way all of those voters watched Andruw Jones nightly. If they did, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
For whatever reason, Andruw’s contributions to those Braves teams were overshadowed by the ‘big three’ pitchers and Chipper. They got all of the media attention, rightfully so, and Andruw just did his thing in the outfield.
Another reason Ozzie Smith was so popular is because he was the main guy on those Cardinals team, and he was a polarizing figure.
Andruw shouldn’t be punished because he was possibly the fifth best player on a great team. That doesn’t make him any less deserving of the Hall of Fame.
This whole process has really made me want to give up on the MLB Hall of Fame. It doesn’t make sense why certain qualifications are good enough for some players, but not others.
Next. Atlanta Braves: Patrick Weigel Could Play a Big Role in 2019. dark
And if Andruw Jones doesn’t end up in Cooperstown some day, it will be a huge disappointment for the game of baseball and the history of this game. To leave out possibly the best defensive center fielder of all-time would be a travesty to the sport.