Andruw Jones is officially a Hall of Famer. And when he stood at the podium in Cooperstown, he made sure the man who inspired him knew it.
The former Atlanta Braves center fielder was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2026. And during his speech, Jones admitted he was almost at a loss for words when talking about joining Ken Griffey Jr. in the Hall.
“I never got to see Willie Mays play, so Ken Griffey was my guy,” Jones said, per Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game. “I wanted to be like him. For me and Carlos (Beltran) to join Griffey, Willie and these other great center fielders in the Hall of Fame is hard to put into words for me.”
Jones spent the bulk of his career in Atlanta, playing for the Braves from 1996 through 2007. He later bounced around to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees. But it was in a Braves uniform where he built a Hall of Fame résumé: five All-Star selections, ten Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and the National League home run title in 2005.
He finished his career with 1,933 hits, 434 homers, and 1,289 RBIs. Not bad for a guy who debuted at 19 years old.
Jones also made sure to shout out another Braves legend who pushed for his induction. “Larry Wayne Jones, some call him Chipper. Chipper pushed for my induction for many years,” Jones said. “The Jones Boys are in Cooperstown now. Thank you.”
His former teammate John Smoltz had plenty of praise too. “He’s the measuring stick,” Smoltz said. “I don’t know if you’ll ever see a better combination of offense and defense.”
Jones debuted in 1996, the year after the Braves won the World Series. Atlanta went back to the Fall Classic that season but fell to the New York Yankees. Still, the legacy of that Braves core is undeniable. Jones now joins Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Fred McGriff, manager Bobby Cox, and general manager John Schuerholz as Hall of Famers from those mid-to-late 90s Braves teams.
Not a bad club to be a part of.
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