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Braves: Happy Birthday to Best Defensive CF of All-Time, Andruw Jones

By Jake Mastroianni

22 Oct 1996: Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves catches a ball during Game Three of the World Series against the New York Yankees at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Yankees won the game, 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport
22 Oct 1996: Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves catches a ball during Game Three of the World Series against the New York Yankees at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Yankees won the game, 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport /
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On his birthday we remember Atlanta Braves legend Andruw Jones who is undoubtedly the best defensive center fielder to ever play the game.

Say what you want about the end of Andruw Jones career, while he was with the Atlanta Braves he was by far the best defensive center fielder in the game and a prolific power hitter.

In a 12-year stretch with the Braves, Jones slashed .263/.342/.497 with 368 home runs, 1,117 RBI, 1,045 runs, 138 stolen bases, won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, made 5 All-Star Game appearances, and garnered MVP votes in five different seasons.

I’m sure I don’t have to convince many of you, but just in case you’re still on the fence about whether or not Andruw Jones is a Hall of Fame player, check out this article I wrote a couple of years ago.

Related Story. 5 Reasons AJ is HoFer. light

He’s one of my favorite players of all-time, and anyone who watched him on a daily basis while he was with the Braves knows just how important he was to those division-winning teams.

I get it, once he turned 30 he fell off a cliff. But you also have to keep in mind that he broke into the big leagues at the age of 19 — he already had a lot of miles on him and beat up his body pretty good with all those diving catches.

And here are a few that I found in the MLB vault, with this first one here being one of my favorites.

He had the guy shaded to left-center and somehow still managed to get to that ball that was closer to the right-fielder than it was to him. I mean, that’s just unreal.

I had to put this in there just to hear Skip Carey’s voice as well, but as Joe Simpson says on the broadcast, “Eat your heart out, Willie Mays.”

In case there were still some out there questioning whether or not Andruw Jones is the best defensive center fielder of all-time, or maybe you just forgot how amazing he really was out there, this one is the game-ender for me.

Nobody else in the history of this game is able to get to that ball.

Next. Top 20 Braves HR hitters. dark

I just want to say happy birthday to the greatest defensive center fielder of all-time, and possibly one of the five best defensive players of all-time. Happy birthday, Andruw.

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