Take a bow, Andruw Jones, on making it to the Hall of Fame. After such a long time on the ballot, you have finally entered baseball immortality and joined another great Hall of Fame center fielder, Carlos Beltrán. They represent the only pair of primary center fielders to enter the Hall of Fame together. In the last 45 years, the only other primary center fielders to enter were Ken Griffey Jr. in 2016, Kirby Puckett in 2001, and Willie Mays in 1979.

Andruw Jones’ rise to the Hall of Fame is one of the steepest increases in BBWAA voting history. In 2018, he started at just 7.3%, and it took him until his sixth year on the ballot to reach a majority of voters at 58.1%. Finally, in his second-to-last year of eligibility, he cleared the 75% threshold with 78.4%, earning election and one of the greatest honors in sports.

Let’s dive into the stats that pushed Jones over the top. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, though his final six years were marred by injuries that left him a shell of his prime self. Best known for his 12 years in Atlanta, Jones also spent time with the Yankees, White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers. For his career, he was worth 62.7 WAR, with 1,204 runs, 1,933 hits, 434 home runs, 1,289 RBIs, 152 stolen bases, and 891 walks, producing a slash line of .254/.337/.486/.823 and an OPS+ of 111.

Still, Jones is remembered most for his defense. He won 10 Gold Gloves as a center fielder, taking home the award 10 straight seasons from 1998 to 2007. That puts him in an incredibly exclusive club of just three players to ever do so, alongside Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. Jones posted a defensive WAR of 24, the best among all outfielders in MLB history. Those same three players are also the only center fielders to combine 400+ home runs with 10 Gold Gloves, a testament to how rare Jones’ skill set truly was.

Jones first arrived on the scene in 1996, the year after the Braves won the World Series. He played in just 31 games, scoring 11 runs with 23 hits and 13 RBIs, and hit well below league average. Still, that set the stage for his official rookie season in 1997, when he broke out with 18 home runs, 70 RBIs, 60 runs, and 3.3 WAR, finishing top five in Rookie of the Year voting.

By 1998, Jones shifted into third gear. Early in his career he wasn’t viewed as a pure power threat, but for 10 straight seasons he never hit fewer than 26 home runs. His peak came in 2005, when he led the National League with 51 home runs and 128 RBIs. That Braves single-season home run record stood until 2023, when Matt Olson hit 54. Jones finished second in MVP voting that year, behind Albert Pujols, and earned the first and only Silver Slugger of his career. In 2005 alone, Jones posted 6.7 WAR, 154 hits, 95 runs, 51 HR, 128 RBIs, and 64 walks, slashing .263/.347/.575/.922 for an OPS+ of 136, the best season of his career.

Over his career, Jones hit 30+ home runs six times and drove in 100+ RBIs five times. He will be remembered as a generational defender and one of the best power-hitting center fielders the game has ever seen. As baseball continues to value defense more than ever, it’s incredibly difficult to find a player who can play elite center field and hit like Andruw Jones. With Mike Trout injured and no longer at his peak, there isn’t a dominant center fielder today who matches Jones’ two-way impact.

Jones was underrated on the ballot for years and wasn’t fully recognized for how great he truly was, despite having the accolades to prove it. Many great players never make the Hall of Fame due to voter ignorance or PED associations. Even then, not making the Hall doesn’t mean a player wasn’t special. Jones proved that. He stayed resilient, never gave up, and now his legacy is sealed forever.

He will be remembered.
He will never be forgotten.

Congratulations, Andruw Jones.