Andruw Jones becomes 8th Hall of Famer for 1990s Braves

COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK — The National Baseball Hall of Fame couldn’t tell the full story of the 1990s Braves until it included Andruw Jones.

The story is completed on Sunday when Jones officially becomes a Hall of Famer.

“Happy to be here, happy to be part of this elite group,” Jones said during his media availability Saturday at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. He was then asked about his favorite memory in his career, and he recalled his major league debut in 1996.

“But if you ask me that question on Monday, (the answer) will be different,” Jones said.

The Curaçaoan is the eighth contributor to the Braves’ most famed era to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. And he completes the franchise’s representation from one of the greatest runs achieved in American sports.

Jones will soon be immortalized alongside 1990s Braves teammates Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Fred McGriff, along with late manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz.

From Braves historian Sam Wallace: Since the first induction of a 1990s Brave in 2014, no other team has celebrated more than five new Hall of Famers. In the same time frame, the Brewers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Marlins, Nationals, Padres, Reds, Angels, A’s, Blue Jays, Rays, Guardians, Orioles and Royals have combined for 10 new Hall of Famers.

Those Braves teams won 14 consecutive division titles (1991-2005), five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series. Their impact continues today as that run transformed the Braves franchise into a major brand.

“The front office, Bobby Cox, a winning culture; we focused on pitching and defense, trying to be strong up the middle, that’s how we went about it and that’s why we had a great run,” Jones said.

Jones is commonly considered among, if not the best, center fielders in MLB history. He leads all center fielders in defensive bWAR. He secured 10 consecutive Gold Gloves during his prime. He made the extraordinary seem simple and the unexpected appear routine.

And he smashed 434 home runs while dazzling in the outfield. Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jones are the only outfielders to win 10 Gold Gloves and hit at least 400 homers.

“This is not a perfect analogy but take a guy like (former Cardinals shortstop) Ozzie Smith, for instance,” Braves manager Walt Weiss, who played three seasons with Jones, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “People would say he’s the best that they saw at that position, kind of reinvented the position. He’s in the Hall of Fame because of that. Andruw did that in center, and oh by the way, hit 440 homers, too. That was always my case when I tried to make a case for Andruw in the Hall of Fame.”

Jones was elected in his ninth year on the ballot. There are reasons for his wait. He had a steep late-career decline that hurt not only his case for longevity, but also his perception outside the South. His defensive peak, as tremendous as it was, ended in his early 30s. He was a free agent bust for the Dodgers and bounced around as a part-time player before finishing his career in 2012.

He also had an off-field incident in which he was arrested and charged with battery following a domestic dispute with his wife on Christmas Day in 2012. He pleaded guilty, paid a fine and was placed on probation.