| Andruw Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones during his tenure with the Rangers |
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| Chicago White Sox — No. -- | |
| Outfielder / Designated hitter | |
| Born: April 23, 1977 Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| August 15, 1996 for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Career statistics (through 2009) |
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| Batting average | .257 |
| Home runs | 388 |
| Runs batted in | 1,174 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Andruw Rudolf Jones (born April 23, 1977, in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles) is a Major League Baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox.
During his first two years with the Atlanta Braves, Jones most often appeared as a right fielder. However, from 1998 until 2009, he played almost exclusively in center field. Aside from 1996, when he appeared in just 32 games due to injuries, Jones appeared in 150 or more games in each year of his career up to 2008, when he appeared in only 75 games.
Jones has been a noted defensive specialist, and won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for outfielders every year from 1998 through 2007.
Jones has appeared in the All-Star Game five times, and he won both the Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award for outfielders in 2005. In 2002, he was the inaugural National League All-Star Final Vote winner.
Contents |
Early professional career
Jones signed with the Atlanta Braves organization as a free agent in 1993 at the age of 16. By 1996, he was being hailed as "the next Griffey."[citation needed] The Braves brought Jones up to Atlanta on August 15, 1996, when he was just 19 years old. He spent his early time in the majors playing in right field because established center fielders Marquis Grissom and Kenny Lofton were already entrenched in the position.
In Game 1 of the 1996 World Series on October 20, 1996, Jones was able to demonstrate his talents on the national stage. He connected for two home runs to left field on his first two at bats as the Braves routed the New York Yankees 12-1. Jones became the youngest player ever to homer in the World Series at the age of 19 years, 180 days, breaking Mickey Mantle's record of 20 years, 362 days - on Mantle's birthday.
Major league career
Atlanta Braves
Jones became the Braves' everyday right fielder in 1997, but he accumulated a disappointing .231 batting average. In 1998, he moved to center field nearly full-time, and had a much more encouraging season. His average improved to .271, he hit 31 homers, and stole 27 bases. He also won his first of ten straight Gold Glove Awards.
Whether he was in the batter's box or gliding under a fly ball to make an easy basket catch, Jones played the game in a very relaxed manner. This temporarily earned him the ire of manager Bobby Cox in June 1998 in an incident in which Cox pulled Jones out of a game, in the midst of an inning, because he felt Jones had lazily allowed a single to drop in center field.
Still just 22 years old, Jones had similar numbers in 1999, and though he was a dependable (he played all 162 games that season) and good player, many began to wonder if or when he would live up to the potential that they believed he possessed. He had a moderate-breakout season with his bat in 2000 with career highs up til that point in batting average (.303), home runs (36), and RBIs (104). He also earned his first All-Star Game appearance.
However, in 2001, Jones's batting average fell and his strikeouts went up. By now, Jones had gained nearly 30 pounds since arriving at the Major Leagues, greatly diminishing his speed on the basepaths (he would not steal more than 11 bases after 2001). He maintained a similar batting performance in 2002, but was still playing superb defense. In 2003, with the power-hitting Gary Sheffield in the line-up, Jones achieved a new career high-water-mark in RBIs, with 116. Unfortunately, he took a step backward in 2004 when he hit fewer than 30 homers and struck out 147 times.
Breakout in 2005
Prior to the 2005 season, Jones increased his workout regimen and, following advice given by Hall of Famer Willie Mays, widened his batting stance. The result was his most productive offensive season ever. On September 14, 2005, Jones hit his 300th career home run which went 430 feet (130 m) off Philadelphia Phillies reliever Geoff Geary in a 12–4 Phillies win.[1] The ball landed in the upper deck in left field at Citizens Bank Park.[2]
Jones hit a major league-leading 51 home runs, surpassing Hank Aaron's and Eddie Mathews' single-season club record. He also led the National League with a career-high 128 RBI. Jones' torrid hitting in the summer, especially while teammate Chipper Jones was out with an injury, helped carry the Braves to their 14th consecutive division championship. He finished just behind St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols in the 2005 NL MVP vote.
2006
Before the 2006 season, Jones played in the World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands. Jones continued to dominate opposing pitchers in 2006, finishing the season with 41 home runs and 129 RBIs. Jones also became more selective at the plate (82 walks, as compared to 64 the prior season), which helped him score 107 runs during 2006, an increase of 12 over the prior year and his most in a single season since 2000. He won his ninth consecutive Gold Glove award.
2007
Coming into the last year of his contract with the Braves, many fans and sports analysts alike felt that 2007 would be the last year in which Jones would be a Brave, mostly because of his potential value on the market that the Braves would not be able to afford. Jones, however, had an unexpectedly poor start to the season, striking out 51 times in 41 games and carrying a batting average in the low .200s for the majority of April and May.
On April 30, Jones hit a three-run walk-off home run against the Philadelphia Phillies. On May 28, Jones hit his 350th career homer off Chris Capuano. After the All-Star break, Jones continued to have productive power numbers; however, his batting average remained poor.
On October 2, the Braves announced they would not be bringing Jones back for the 2008 season.
Los Angeles Dodgers
2008
On December 5, 2007, Jones agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, worth $36.2 million.[3] After showing up out of shape and over 20 pounds overweight, he continued to struggle, hitting below .200 for most of the season. Additionally, he had only 10 hits in 116 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Due to his lack of production, Jones was dropped to eighth in the Dodger line-up. This was the first time since 1998 that Jones had hit eighth in any line-up.
On April 19, Jones hit his first home run as a Dodger, at Turner Field against his former Braves teammates.
Jones was put on the disabled list for the first time in his entire career on May 25, 2008. He had knee surgery after injuring his knee during batting practice earlier that day.
On July 27, 2008, the Dodgers manager Joe Torre benched Jones and said that he would only be used as a spot starter in the future. At that time, Jones had a .166 batting average, two home runs and 12 RBIs combined with an incredible 68 strikeouts in 187 at-bats.[4]
On September 13, 2008, Jones was put on the 60-day disabled list, putting to a finish his very disappointing season with the Dodgers. Jones finished the season with a .158 batting average, just three home runs, and 14 RBI. He was not seen in the dugout during any of the postseason games, nor the celebrations in the locker rooms, since he had been removed from the playoff roster and sent home for the winter.[5] Jones stated that he did not wish to return to the Dodgers in 2009, saying that the Los Angeles fans did not give him a fair chance, despite the fact that he had had the worst season in his career.
During the 2009 off-season, the Dodgers reached an agreement with Jones to trade or release him before spring training in exchange for a deferral of some of the remaining money due on his contract. On January 15, 2009, Jones was officially released by the Dodgers.[6]
Texas Rangers
2009
On February 8, 2009, Jones signed a one-year minor league contract offered by the Texas Rangers; the deal pays him $500,000 for making the major league team, and offered $1 million in incentives.[7] Jones reportedly turned down a similar offer from the New York Yankees to compete for their center field job[8] and expressed an interest in staying with the Rangers even though he will likely not be a starter.[9] He earned the Rangers' final roster spot. He had originally planned to be mostly a pinch hitter for the Rangers, but due to the injury to Josh Hamilton, Jones did find a starting role for a while in the outfield.[10] However, Jones only played in 82 games for the Rangers in any role whatever, including pinch-hitting, in 2009.
Chicago White Sox
2010
On November 25, 2009, Jones signed a $500,000 deal for 2010 with up to an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. He will be a DH / Outfielder.
Family
Jones is married to Nicole Derick, and the two of them are the parents of one son, Druw, and one daughter, Madison[11].
Awards and Accomplishments
- Won Minor League Player of the Year Award in 1995 and 1996
- Youngest player in the National League in 1996 and 1997
- 10-Time NL Gold Glove Award Winner (1998-2007)
- 5-Time All-Star (2000, 2002-03, 2005-06)
- Inaugural National League All-Star Final Vote winner (2002)
- Led the majors with 51 home runs in 2005
- Holds Braves record for most home runs in a season (2005, with 51)
- Led the National League with 656 at bats in 2000
- Led the National League with 128 RBIs in 2005
- NL Silver Slugger Award in 2005
- NL Hank Aaron Award as the league's best offensive player in 2005
- NL Player of the Month for June and August 2005
- Major League Player of the Year for 2005, as chosen by ??
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andruw Jones |
- 50 home run club
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
References
- ^ "September 14, 2005 Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200509140.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ Bowman, Mark (2005-09-14). "Andruw hits two milestones with homer; Braves center fielder belts No. 50 of 2005, No. 300 of career". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050914&content_id=1210307&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Gurnick, Ken (2008-09-13). "Jones placed on DL; Saito activated". MLB.com. http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080913&content_id=3468698&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ Dodgers Release Andruw Jones
- ^ Rangers ink Andruw to Minors deal
- ^ Rangers, Jones agree to deal
- ^ Andruw Jones Willing to Take Backup Role ESPN, March 22, 2009
- ^ Jones Earns Final Roster Spot ESPN, April 2, 2009
- ^ Andruw Jones Stats, Bio, Photos , Highlights texasrangers.com
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Karim Garcia 1995 |
Youngest Player in the National League 1996-1997 |
Succeeded by Adrián Beltré 1998 |
| Preceded by Bobby Abreu Adam Dunn |
National League Player of the Month June 2005 August 2005 |
Succeeded by Adam Dunn Randy Winn |
| Preceded by Adrián Beltré |
National League Home Run Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Ryan Howard |
| Preceded by Vinny Castilla |
National League RBI Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Ryan Howard |
| Preceded by Barry Bonds |
National League Hank Aaron Award 2005 |
Succeeded by Ryan Howard |
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