The 29 Most Important Braves During the Streak: #4, Andruw Jones
Andruw Jones is this high up the list not only for his ability as a slugger, but also for his abilities in center field. From the moment he got to the Majors the impact of both his bat and his glove were felt by our opponents. Only 19 years old in '96, Jones did about all he could to try and help the Braves beat the Yankees in the World Series that year. In game one of the Series he made it so we would never forget him when he slugged two homeruns in Yankee Stadium to help the Braves take game one. Jones has gone on to dominate other postseason series, stepping up especially in the last two postseasons, '04 and '05, compiling over a .500 batting average to try and help the Braves on to victory.

Though he can be dominating at times as a slugger, his defense never seems to wane. Nine straight Gold Gloves don't lie, and while there may have been some growing pains and mental lapses early on, Andruw is now regarded by many around baseball as one of the finest center fielders in the history of the game. We have only to look to what happened to Tom Glavine when he moved from the Braves with Jones in the outfield to the Mets and their collection of boat anchors in the outfield - his ERA when from 2.96 to 4.52 in one year. It is Andruw's ability to chase down balls that for most centerfielders are uncatchable and make it look routine.
Andruw's power potential was always lurking just below the surface of his game. 30-Homer power came easy to AJ, but it wasn't until '05 when he really broke out with a 51-homer season tapping his full power potential. That was also the year that Andruw finally felt comfortable in the fourth spot in the batting order. Five times in the top-16 in MVP voting and five times an All-Star, Andurw has helped the Braves win games and make the postseason year after year. We can only hope that the team can find some way to keep his bat in the lineup and his glove in the outfield for the years to come. No other defender has had more of an impact on the Braves success than Andruw Jones.
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He Will Be Missed...
I'm super-hyped about this Gregor Blanco kid, and the idea of a Brandon Jones-Blanco-Francouer OF is really starting to grow on me. They're all cheap, young and athletic; in other words, that's the perfect OF for our franchise at the moment.
by ejruiz on Jan 15, 2007 8:57 PM EST 0 recs
Andruw Jones...
On Blanco, I'm excited about him too and have been for a few months but i don't know how much of a long term asnwer he is. Brandon Jones has been a fav of mine since we signed him as a draft and follow. We'll see where all this goes, but i think BLanco will probably start the season in AAA if we still have laroche come april.
by yondaime4 on Jan 16, 2007 12:36 AM EST 0 recs
Spring Training.
by ejruiz on
Jan 16, 2007 3:17 PM EST
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I mean
Brandon Jones is a different story. He is odd in that he has a lot of tools but he just ends up average in pretty much every area. He was voted ashaving the best power in his league this year by coaches in BA, which was a surprise to many since he hasn't hit more than 14-15 homers in a season. I lvoe him still and the braves have jumped him quick for a guy who is supposedly toolsy. His polish was surprsing to many i think though his walk rate dipped some. I wonder where we'll send him to start the year since he has reasonably handled any move so far they could push him to AAA just to see what he can do. We'll see, his tools haven' played great so far, but they have flashed. I still think he is our best OF prospect and maybe our best position prospect behind salty and Campbell
by yondaime4 on
Jan 16, 2007 11:58 PM EST
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