Braves Legend Jones Elected to Hall of Fame

Over half of America may be engulfed in a winter wonderland, but baseball, still the country’s quintessential summer sport, enjoyed a burst of relevancy when members of the 2026 Hall of Fame class were revealed last week. And when the big day arrives in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, July 26, the Atlanta Braves’ remarkable 1990s run will further cement its place in baseball immortality as center fielder, Andruw Jones, will be inducted alongside fellow center fielder, Carlos Beltran, and second baseman, Jeff Kent.

While Jones’ one-time Atlanta teammates, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine waltzed into the Hall as first-ballot selections last decade, the 10-time Gold Glove Award winner from Curacao, who played a notoriously shallow center field, had to wait until his ninth time on the ballot to garner the requisite 75 percent of votes (Jones came in at 78.4 percent) from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to receive baseball’s ultimate individual honor.

Though Jones, during his prime, was regarded as the game’s finest defensive center fielder and slugged 434 career homers, there was a precipitous drop-off in production once he bolted from Atlanta following the 2007 season, after which he was no longer an everyday center fielder for a passel of teams. That he subsequently finished with a pedestrian .254 batting average and was arrested on domestic violence charges in December 2012 — he pleaded guilty, paid a fine, received probation, and went over to Japan to finish up his pro career — meant Jones was never a lock for Cooperstown, especially when he debuted on the ballot with a paltry 7.3 percent of votes in 2018. But in his second-to-last go-round at the ballot box, Jones’ candidacy was finally viewed favorably by the gatekeepers of the Hall — an outcome that was surely bolstered by there being no first-timers up for election who had compelling cases.

“These are things you can’t control. Whatever happens, happens. You don’t play this game to make the Hall of Fame. You play this game to win championships,” Jones told reporters during a post-announcement Zoom conference call while he was in the Dominican Republic for a Ryder Cup-style golf event for retired Major Leaguers.

As the first player born in Curaçao to be inducted into the Hall (former Braves closer, Kenley Jansen, could one day be the second), Jones is slated to manage the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March. Coincidentally, the Netherlands, for whom Jones played during the 2006 and 2013 editions of the WBC, will be in Israel’s Pool D bracket at Miami’s loanDepot park.

“I mean, we grew up playing baseball so much down there, that’s all we knew since we grew up — we wanted to play baseball,” Jones said. “[To be] the first player to make it from Curaçao, it’s a great honor. And I know we’re going to have more people coming.”

Jones missed out on the Braves’ sole World Series title of the 1990s as he broke into the big leagues during the 1996 regular season. But it was, of course, a debut that will never be forgotten. After playing in merely 31 games for the Braves down the stretch, the 19-year-old with the ultra-rare combination of elite outfield defense and power dazzled in the high-pressure cooker of October baseball, swatting a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series before going deep twice at Yankee Stadium in his first two World Series plate appearances during Game 1 of the Fall Classic. When it was all said and done, Jones joined upper-echelon Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Schmidt as the only players with at least 400 home runs and 10 Gold Gloves.

“This is going to be a great moment to actually be on the stage with those guys that you idolize, those guys that you grew up watching, guys that you compete with,” acknowledged Jones, whom Hall of Famer Willie Mays once famously referred to as the greatest center fielder he ever saw. “Then enjoying that moment, when you get that chance to be on the elite level.”

Jones has maintained a regular presence in the Braves organization — he was featured in pregame festivities leading up to Game 1 of the 2023 National League Division Series as well as last summer’s All-Star Game at Truist Park — and the franchise plans to honor his enshrinement this summer when it hosts a National Baseball Hall of Fame Andruw Jones bobblehead giveaway presented by Curaçao, Feel it For Yourself, on July 30 versus the Washington Nationals.

Meanwhile, there was a Jewish storyline to this year’s Hall of Fame results unveiling as Milwaukee Brewers great, Ryan Braun, was up for election for the first time. It will, however, be his last time as the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year and 2011 NL MVP, whose father hails from Israel, appeared on only 3.5 percent of ballots, failing to meet the 5 percent threshold required to remain on the ballot in future years. Though Braun, often dubbed “the Hebrew Hammer” was one of the most revered sluggers of the 2010s, his case for Cooperstown was flimsy at best, given that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and served a 65-game suspension in 2013. Even though Braun is forevermore ineligible for election by the BBWAA, the all-time leading Jewish home run king (Braun finished with 352 homers, slightly above Hank Greenberg’s 331) could gain entry one day via the Contemporary Players Era Committee. However, that committee only meets every several years and there is invariably a crowded field of potential selectees.