About Andruw Jones
Andruw Rudolf Jones (Papiamento pronunciation: [ˈandruw ˈdʒonz]; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Jones was a strong defensive player for much of his career, winning the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for outfielders every year from 1998 through 2007. He had a strong throwing arm in addition to his elite fielding. He was an MLB All-Star five times, and he won both the Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award for outfielders in 2005. Jones made his MLB debut during the 1996 season with the Atlanta Braves. In the 1996 World Series, he became the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the postseason, and just the second player ever to homer in his first two World Series at-bats. The following season, he finished fifth in voting for Rookie of the Year. He continued to improve his offensive production the next two seasons, and in 2000, he batted.303 with 36 home runs and 104 runs batted in (RBIs), making his first All-Star team. Jones started to draw many comparisons to Willie Mays and was considered one of the top center fielders in baseball. He proved to be a top defensive player, leading all center fielders in putouts and total zone runs five years in a row from 1998 to 2002. In 2001, he again hit more than 30 home runs and drove in 104 runs but his average dipped to.251 while his strikeouts increased. Jones improved with All-Star seasons in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he failed to hit at least 30 home runs for the first time since 1999 and exceeded 100 strikeouts, which became a regular occurrence thereafter. In 2005, he led the National League (NL) with 51 home runs and 128 RBIs, finishing second to Albert Pujols for NL Most Valuable Player. In subsequent seasons, his average continued to dip and his strikeouts increased. After a productive season in 2006, including a career-high 129 RBIs, in 2007 Jones had his weakest season to that point, batting just.222. During his time with Atlanta, Jones became one of the youngest players in MLB history to reach 300 career home runs. After the 2007 season, Jones signed with the Dodgers as a free agent to a two-year deal, worth $36.2 million. However, Jones struggled with the Dodgers, batting just.158 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. Shortly after the season, Jones was released. Jones concluded his MLB career with brief stints for the Rangers, White Sox, and Yankees, transitioning from a starting center fielder to designated hitter and backup outfielder role. Jones hit his 400th career home run in 2010 while playing for the White Sox. In 2026, Jones was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He became the first Curaçaoan player to be elected into the Hall of Fame.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.