Farewell Andruw

To all who haven't heard, Andruw Jones, formerly of the Atlanta Braves, inked a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is, officially, no longer a Brave. I knew it was inevitable this off season, but it still tugs at the heart strings a bit now that deal has gone through.

Andruw has been a favorite of mine since busting onto the scene in 1996, as a 19yr old, and homering in his first two World Series at bats. Granted, his average hasn't always been up there with a .263 for his career, but he has been very consistent with his power and durability. The past 10yrs that he has been in majors, his home run(363) and RBI(1,104) totals rank him 8th in each offensive category. Defensively, he has been as solid as you will ever get. Jones has more putouts than anyone in baseball with 4,864, over 500 more than second place and he has accumulated more assists than any other MLB player at his position. Never mind the 10 consecutive gold gloves he has one, ranking him 3rd on the all-time outfielder list, behind the greats Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente. Maybe the biggest achievement, however, would be in his whole stint in the big leagues, he has never been on the disabled list, quite a feat these days.

There are many more awards and accomplishments Andruw has earned, but I won't bore you with all them. I had to pay homage to one of my favorites on the day he was leaving Atlanta. Andruw, your teddy bear grins, falling down power swings, and great diving catches will be missed and you will always be a Brave to me. Farewell Andruw, farewell.



*all statistics provided by http://www.atlantabraves.com/