Andruw Jones: HOF?

Watched the Driven episode featuring Andruw Jones this weekend. They state his case for the Hall of Fame. For ten years Andruw was at the top of his game, winning ten straight Gold Gloves and averaging 36 home runs a year. Five of those years he made the All-Star team and garnered MVP votes, finishing as high as second in 2005. One argument is that Andruw was every bit of an excellent fielder the great shortstop Ozzie Smith was – plus Andruw slugged 406 more home runs more than the Wizard. Is this a valid argument?

 

While Ozzie was no slugger, he outperformed Andruw in many offensive categories: average, runs, hits, double, triples, stolen bases, more walks. Andruw struck out at a rate three times more often than Ozzie. Dale Murphy’s stats are comparably to Andruw’s, and Dale’s two MVP’s haven’t gotten him into the HOF. While Chipper only hit 34 more homers, his 303 career average as a switch-hitter will make him a first-ballot inductee.

 

avg.OBP.SLG.OPS.TB..gdp.hbp.SH.SF.mvp.GG.as

254 337 486 823 3690 192 97 006 71   05  10  05 AJ

262 337 328 666 3084 167 33 214 63   06  13  15 OS

265 346 469 815 3733 209 28 006 60   07  05  07 DM

303 401 529 930 4755 253 18 003 97   13  00  08 CJ

Ozzie played in three times as many All-Star games. He was also one of the most popular players in baseball history. He rightly deserves his spot in Cooperstown.

 

YR….G……PA……runs...hits..2B..3B.HR..RBI…SB….BB.…SO…

17 2196 08664 1204 1933 383 36 434 1289 152 0891 1748 AJ

19 2573 10778 1257 2460 402 69 028 0793 580 1072 0589 OS

18 2180 09041 1197 2111 161 68 398 1266 161 0986 1748 DM

19 2499 10614 1619 2726 549 38 468 1623 150 1512 1409 CJ

 

Andruw’s perpetual smile and graceful play translated into a laissez-faire attitude that some writers and fans thought lackadaisical. Though Andruw played in 153 or more games for eleven straight years, many mistakenly thought he was loafing. But all the spectacular diving catches and crashes into outfield walls took their toll on his body. The Braves let him walk at just the right time. Jones bounced around to five teams in five years, adding only 66 home runs to his total.

 

While none of the sluggers on the all-time home run list ahead of Andruw have ten straight Gold Gloves, few of the 19 players with fewer than 500 homers are in the Hall – only Gehrig, Musial, Stargell, Chipper, Winfield, Yaz, Bagwell. All played longer than Andruw and had other reasons for induction.

 

Despite being one of the greatest centerfielders of all time, It’s highly doubtful Andruw Jones will ever be voted into the Hall of Fame.