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Atlanta Braves: why Andruw Jones is not a Hall of Famer

By Seth Carter

ATLANTA - OCTOBER 22: Andruw Jones #25 of the Atlanta Braves bats during Game three of the 1996 World Series against the New York Yankees at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on October 22, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Yankees defeated the Braves 5-2. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - OCTOBER 22: Andruw Jones #25 of the Atlanta Braves bats during Game three of the 1996 World Series against the New York Yankees at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on October 22, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Yankees defeated the Braves 5-2. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 24: Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith is introduced at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 24, 2011 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 24: Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith is introduced at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 24, 2011 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

But Ozzie Smith…

Many will argue since Ozzie Smith is in the Hall of Fame for his defense then so should be Andruw.

The argument is that Ozzie Smith only made the Hall of Fame because he was a great defender while Andruw was a great defender and a good hitter. The article points out that they had similar career hitting numbers with speed going to Ozzie and power going to Andruw.

Ozzie was an 11-time gold glove winner and a 15-time All-Star with 12 consecutive selections.
Andruw was 10-time gold glover and a 5-time All-Star. The five All-Stars were indicative of the amount of great outfield talent in the league during his time.

Ozzie was a standout relative to the shortstops of his time. The game was different back then:  the shortstop position was all about defense, and Ozzie was the best. He was transcendent, and it made him the face of the Cardinals’ franchise and a true superstar and face of the game.

Andruw is somewhere between Ozzie and Omar Vizquel. Additionally, there is a fair argument that Ozzie shouldn’t even be in the Hall of Fame. That is a discussion for another place…the comment section!

Andruw has a higher WAR than many Hall of Famers

Argument: There are players in the Hall of Fame with less WAR than Andruw Jones had in his career.

WAR is still relative to the time you played in due to several factors, one being informational limitations. This makes very difficult to use WAR to truly compare players from different eras.

Bill James explains:

"“It is precisely the same argument; it is just using a “new” statistical category, rather than an old one. Or, to apply it to a hitter, Yogi Berra drove in 1,430 runs, Charlie Gehringer drove in 1,427 runs, Joe Cronin drove in 1,424, Jim Bottomley drove in 1,422, Robin Yount drove in 1,406 and Ed Delahanty 1,400, and all of those guys are in the Hall of Fame, so how can you say that Joe Carter shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame when he drove in 1,445 runs, you moron, you.“"

Mr. James had more to say regarding the claim that Andruw is the greatest center fielder of all time based on dWar.

"“Andruw Jones’ career dWar is shown as 24.1, in 17,039 innings, whereas Willie Mays is shown at 18.1 in 24,427 innings. On a per-inning basis, Jones is being credited with saving twice as many runs as Willie Mays, compared to a replacement level center fielder. Well, I believe that Andruw Jones was a fine defensive center fielder, but I don’t necessarily believe that he was twice as good a center fielder as Willie Mays.”"

Read his entire article here.

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