Andruw Rudolf Jones (born April 23, 1977 in
Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles) is a Antillean
Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
During his first two years with the Braves, Jones
most often appeared as a right fielder. However,
since then, he has played exclusively in center
field while on defense. Aside from 1996, when he
appeared in 32 games, Jones has displayed his
durability by appearing in 150 or more games in each
year of his career.
Jones is a noted defensive specialist and has won
the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for center fielders
every year since 1998.
He has appeared in the All-star Game five times and
he won both the Hank Aaron Award and a Silver
Slugger Award for Outfielders in 2005. In 2002, he
was the inaugural National League All-Star Final
Vote winner.
Andruw Jones signed with the Atlanta Braves
organization as a free agent in 1993 at the age of
16. By 1996, he was being hailed as "the next
Griffey." The Braves brought Jones up to Atlanta on
August 15, 1996 when he was just 19 years old. He
spent his early time in the majors playing in right
field because established center fielders Marquis
Grissom and Kenny Lofton were already entrenched in
the position.
In Game 1 of the 1996 World Series on October 20,
1996, Jones was able to demonstrate his talents on
the national stage. He connected for two home runs
to left field on his first two at-bats as the Braves
routed the New York Yankees 12-1. Jones became the
youngest player ever to homer in the World Series
(breaking the late Mickey Mantle's record - on
Mantle's birthday.)
Jones met his wife Nicole in an Atlanta mall in
1998. The couple married in 2002, and he has a
daughter, Madison, from a previous relationship and
a son, Druw with Nicole. Andruw and his family
currently live in Duluth, Georgia. He has said that
he and his family will continue to live in Duluth in
the off season.
