The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I watched part of the ESPN show Pardon the Interruption yesterday, and when Michael Wilbon and guest co-host Bob Ryan discussed the greatest center fielders of all time, they mentioned Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Jim Edmonds. While it might be hard to argue that Mays, winner of 12 Gold Gloves, wasn't the greatest center fielder of all-time, and it might also be difficult to argue that Griffey (winner of 10 Gold Gloves) and Edmonds (winner of 8 Gold Gloves) weren't two of the top 5 (or so) center fielders of all-time, one name seems to consistently get looked over in this list, and that's Andruw Jones. Andruw Jones, former five-time All-Star for the Atlanta Braves, won ten consecutive Gold Gloves in center field from the years 1998 through 2007. This ranks him in a tie for second with Al Kaline, Ichiro Suzuki, and Ken Griffey Jr. for most Gold Gloves by an outfielder. He's also one of only five center fielders to record at least 400 putouts in a season six times....

Former Atlanta Braves outfielder, Andruw Jones, is typically looked at by baseball analysts as a potential Hall-of-Famer, but likely on the outside looking in when all is said and done. For his career, Jones has compiled the following stats: 1,184 runs scored, 1,899 hits, 377 doubles, 36 triples, 424 home runs, 1,263 RBI's, 152 stolen bases, a .256 batting average, .338 OBP, .488 slugging percentage and .826 OPS. Those numbers in and of themselves I don't think warrant him an induction. However, he's also won 10 Gold Gloves while playing centerfield. Only three other players have compiled 400+ home runs and 10+ Gold Gloves. Those players? Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Schmidt. That's a pretty special group right there. Mays was inducted in 1979. Schmidt was inducted in 1995. Griffey will surely be inducted when he becomes eligible. So if and when all three of those great players are inducted into the Hall of Fame, why should Andruw be left out? Former St. Loui...