(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Atlanta Braves)
   Andruw Jones officially inducted into Braves Hall of Fame
Nederlands
...Andruw Jones hitting for the Netherlands...
...during 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
 ATLANTA, Georgia (USA) -
Curaçao-born outfielder Andruw Jones officially was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame on Friday (August 19) during a ceremony prior to the game of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals.
Also inducted was current Atlanta Braves Vice-Chairman John Schuerholz, the former General Manager and President of the club.
Jones and Schuerholz were elected in February, but today the official induction ceremony took place during a special luncheon in the afternoon at Hyatt Regency Atlanta, followed by an on-field ceremony in the evening at Turner Field prior to the game in which the two were honored.
Since 1999, 31 individuals have been elected into the club's Hall of Fame.
Schuerholz was the General Manager of the Braves when Jones was called up to the Major League-team.
Jones went on to play twelve years for Atlanta (1996-2007).
In his rookie-season, he became the youngest player in history at age 19 to hit a homerun in the World Series, a record that still stands.
Jones homered in first two World Series at bats.
In his Major League-career of 17 seasons, Jones hit 434 homeruns.
He led the National League with 51 homeruns in 2005.
Defensively, Jones won ten consecutive Gold Gloves (1998-2007) for his outstanding play as centerfielder.
In his acceptance speech, Jones thanked several persons who have been important to him during his career.
He specially thanked his father Henry Jones, who passed away last year.
,,The one who pushed me most was my father Henry Jones.
Thanks to him, I'm standing here'', said Jones, who also specially thanked longtime Braves-Manager Bobby Cox.
...Jones during his acceptance speech...
(© Photo courtesy of Atlanta Braves) |
During the ceremony former teammates lauded Jones and also spoke about his always present smile.
,,The smile defined who he was and how he went about his business.
That was just him'', said Hall of Fame-pitcher Tom Glavine.
Chipper Jones talked about several legendary outfielders, such as Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.
Jones: ,,I don't care what any of the old-timers say, Andruw Jones was the best defender I've ever seen''.
Andruw Jones played in the Major League for 17 seasons, including the first twelve of them with the Atlanta Braves (1996-2007), where he became the star-centerfielder.
Jones went on to win ten consecutive Gold Gloves and played in five All Star Games.
In 2005, he finished in second place in the voting for Most Valuable Player in the National League when he hit a club-record 51 homeruns.
With the Braves, Jones won ten Division-titles.
During the 1996 World Series, Jones homered in his first two at bats, becoming the youngest player to homer in the World Series, breaking the record of legendary Mickey Mantle.
From 2008 on, Jones played for Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas Rangers (2009), Chicago White Sox (2010) and New York Yankees (2011-2012).
Hereafter, the Curaçao-born Jones played for Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2013-2014) in the Japanese professional league.
With the Golden Eagles, Jones won the Japanese championship-title in 2013.
With the Netherlands Kingdom Team, Jones participated in the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classic, as well as the Premier12 last November in Taiwan.
In 2013, the Orange squad reached the semi-finals of the WBC.
Early March of this year, Jones was named Special Assistant Baseball Operations by the Atlanta Braves.
In that position, he works with young outfielders within the organization, assisting and instructing them during the season.
Earlier this month, Jones was added to the coaching staff of the Netherlands Kingdom Team for the upcoming European Championship, which will be held September 9-18 in Hoofddorp and Nieuw-Vennep in the Netherlands.
Jones was named Bench Coach in the staff of Manager Steve Janssen.
(August 19)
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