After receiving 7.3 percent of the Baseball Writers Association of America votes in 2018 and 7.5 percent in 2019, Andrew Jones’ Hall of Fame induction numbers have steadily increased, reaching 19.4 percent. percent in 2020, 33.9 percent in 2021, 41.4 percent in 2022 and 58.1 percent in 2023.
Here are four arguments in favor of Jones’ candidacy:
1. A display case full of Golden Gloves
Jones won 10 Gold Gloves in his career. Here we present the list of the outfielders who earned the most: Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays and no one else. We are talking about two Hall of Famers in their first opportunities.
Jones is one of four Rangers to win exactly 10 Gold Gloves, joining Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline and Ichiro Suzuki. We are talking about two more Hall of Famers in their first opportunities and another who surely will be.
Let’s address more. In general terms, there have been 15 players (apart from pitchers) who have won at least 10 Gold Gloves. Only four of them hit at least 400 home runs: Mays, Griffey, Mike Schmidt and Jones. Another first-time Hall of Famer, plus Jones.
In other words, the other outfielders with Jones’ level of defense and the other defenders at his level with his batting thunder are in the Hall of Fame.
2. Other quantifiable defensive qualities
The Golden Gloves are a great way to recognize the best defenders, but they are awards voted on by individuals. Here, we can demonstrate Jones’ defensive dominance with statistics.
The Curacao native accumulated 24.4 defensive WAR (Baseball-Reference). He is the most of any outfielder in Major League history, with a 5.6 lead over second place.
During his entire seasons in Atlanta from 1997 to 2007, he had 26.7 defensive WAR, 10.2 more than any other defender in that stretch (Puerto Rican Iván Rodríguez was second).
During Jones’ career, there were no defensive runs saved or above-average outs, but Baseball-Reference has a statistic called total zone runs, which is essentially the precursor to defensive runs saved. Jones accumulated 230 runs in total zone runs, the most of any center fielder since the metric appeared in 1953—well ahead of Mays’ 176.
So there’s no doubt that Jones is one of the best center fielders ever.
3. Lots of value during his heyday
As demonstrated by the 400 home runs to accompany the Gold Gloves, Jones not only provided defense. During the aforementioned period from 1998 to 2006, Jones had a total WAR of 54.5, the third highest among position players behind Alex Rodríguez (70.6) and Barry Bonds (67.6).
Rodriguez won two American League Most Valuable Player awards in that span, while Bonds was the National League Most Valuable Player in four consecutive years. But Jones was third in overall quality.
Sure, defense is an integral part of WAR—a key component he helped his team with. But he didn’t do it just with the glove. His 319 home runs in that stretch were the eighth most in the Major Leagues and his 940 RBIs were ninth.
4. Favorable ranking in your position
Jones’ peak WAR in his best seven years—that is, his best seven seasons, not necessarily in chronological order—was 46.4. That’s more than the average of the 19 center fielders in the Hall of Fame, which is 44.7. In fact, only eight center fielders have posted a better WAR among their best seven seasons: Mays, Ty Cobb, Mike Trout, Mickey Mantle, Tris Speaker, Griffey, Joe DiMaggio and Duke Snider. We are talking about seven Hall of Famers and another who will be elected one day, Trout.
This makes sense, based on Jones’ WAR from 1998 to 2006, as noted above. His age, whether seven years old or nine, looks quite favorable among others in his position in history.
Therein lies the question regarding Jones and his candidacy. There is a lot of data in favor of Jones having his Cooperstown license plate, as far as his numbers in his prime. Will that result in a Hall of Fame election at some point?
2023-12-27 00:28:04
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