Have we Overlooked Greatness?

As the 2009 season enters into its final month, many of us are coming to the realization that some of the greatest players of our generation are entering into their final years (Ken Griffey, Jr, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz) and some have possibly already put on the uniform for the last time (Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds). With all of these greats on the verge of retirement, we might be making the mistake of overlooking another great from our generation. Although he is only 32, the Andruw Jones of today is not the Andruw Jones we grew up with. Although he has had some success in very limited time with the Texas Rangers this year, it seems as though he is a complete afterthought in most baseball circles. Many might even have found it surprising when I mentioned that he is only 32, and with that being said, I would like to look at some of his accomplishments in the game of baseball before the age of 30, and assess his place among the all-time greats in that regard.

The first fact that I would like to bring to everyone’s attention is that Andruw Jones is far and away the greatest defensive Center Fielder of all-time. This is where I’m hoping to stir up the most debate, but throw out the name of any other Center Fielder that you feel worthy of discussion and he will not be able to compete with the defensive numbers that Andruw Jones has put up over his career.

The second point I would like to make is in regards to his overall play in center field over the course of his career, and even more so before the age of 30. As discussed in my article “Looking Beyond the Gold Gloves,” I would like to again bring up the statistics of Batting Runs Above Average and Fielding Runs Above Average. I would like to take the sum of these two categories to determine overall play as a center fielder. When doing this, it turns out that there are only 24 center fielders in the history of major league baseball that have a combined BRAA and FRAA over 300, meaning that they produced over 300 more runs at bat and in the field for their team than the average player would have had playing in the spot instead. Those 24 players are: Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Ken Griffey Jr, Jim Edmonds, Billy Hamilton, Jimmy Wynn, Bernie Williams, Caesar Cedeno, Andruw Jones, Richie Ashburn, Carlos Beltran, Al Oliver, Brett Butler, Duke Snider, Chet Lemon, Kirby Puckett, Andy Van Slyke, Erik Davis, Larry Doby, Kenny Lofton, and Johnny Damon. So maybe this is not the most exclusive of all lists, but it is only 24 players out of everyone who has ever played center field in the major leagues as a main position. However, if you add another element to this, the list becomes decently exclusive. Out of all the center fielders to ever play in the majors, here are the only players that have ever reached a combined BRAA and FRAA of over 300 before the age of 30: Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr, Joe DiMaggio, Andruw Jones, Caesar Cedeno, and Larry Doby. My main point is that Andruw Jones remains 1 of the only 9 players ever to accomplish this feat, and out of these nine, six out of the seven who are eligible for the hall of fame are in (Griffey will be sure to make seven out of eight soon).

Another interesting fact about Andruw Jones’ career before the age of 30 is the home run totals he put up year in and year out. In fact, the only active players to have more 30 home run seasons than Andruw Jones before the age of 30 are: Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols (Jones had 7 and the other 2 had 9). When we extend this beyond just active players, it turns out that the only players in the history of major league baseball to have more 30 home run seasons than Andruw Jones before the age of 30 are Arod, Pujols, Jimmie Foxx, and Eddie Mathews. I should note that Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, and Mel Ott all had seven 30 home run seasons before the age of 30, which ties them with Jones, but still, he once again finds himself in great company.

The final issue I would like to point out about Andruw Jones’ career pre-30 years old is that he was perhaps the best all-around player on a team that won the NL East every year from the time he entered the league at age 19 in 1996 until 2005 when he was 28. Although he just missed out on the Braves team that won the World Series in 1995, he still was a key part to 10 of the 14 consecutive division titles.

In the end, Andruw Jones will most likely not put up the same career numbers as some of the greatest players ever to play the game. He will not be remembered as one of the greatest players of our generation as well. Sustaining such a high level of play for many years is an integral part of a great career, but when it comes to making a huge impact at such a young age, it’s hard to find as many center fielders as great as Andruw Jones.