Throughout Andruw Jones' Hall of Fame candidacy, one central theme regarding the Atlanta Braves legends that has been thoroughly discussed was whether or not Jones was the best centerfielder of all time when it comes to defense. Everyone agrees that he is in the conversation, but a popular counterargument is Willie Mays who is clearly on baseball's Mount Rushmore when it comes to overall contributions. Unfortunately, Mays playing before there was a surplus of available data makes comparing the two very difficult, but one of two made up their mind in the debate and it wasn't Jones.
Recently, Braves legend Terry Pendleton sat down to share his thoughts on Andruw Jones and his induction into the Hall of Fame while also sharing that he has retired as an advisor for the Braves. During that sit down, Pendleton revealed an all-timer of a story where he heard Mays call Jones the best centerfielder of all time with his own mouth.
Terry Pendleton just revealed that Willie Mays himself said that Andruw Jones was the best centerfielder of all time
Now, do we know if Pendleton's story is 100% accurate and has it been verified? No, but this feels like a stretch to say that Pendleton would make it up. TP is just not that kind of guy and if he says it happened, there is a good chance that the others that he mentioned that were there would happily verify it.
In the story, Pendleton discusses a time when the Braves were visiting the Giants and during BP, some Atlanta folks including Jones and Pendleton came out to talk to Barry Bonds. Well, Mays just happened to be visiting that night and he called Andruw over and said, "Hey kid, listen, I want to tell you something. Listen, you’re the best center fielder I’ve ever seen play this game."
Now, this debate is one that is not going to be resolved by Mays' quote and the "winner" doesn't really matter anymore. Jones is finally in the Hall of Fame whether his detractors like it or not and he doesn't need the title of the "best" centerfielder for that to remain true. The debate may have been a contributing factor as to why it took Jones so long to get into Cooperstown, but that is done with now.
That said, if the Say Hey Kid said that Jones is the best centerfielder to ever play out there, we probably should all listen.