No 10: Andruw Jones
With his unmatched defensive skills and home-run-happy tendencies, Andruw Jones is unquestionably the best center fielder of the last 10 years.
His pre-historic, yet highly effective, approach to positioning himself in the outfield—combined with his strong and accurate arm—make him one of the finer defensive specimens the league has ever seen.
It should come as no surprise that ESPN's Baseball Tonight ranked Jones as the best defensive center fielder of all time just a few years back.
Andruw Jones plays a shallower center field than anyone since World War II. He can afford to do this because he's so damn good at getting back. Jones is willing to bank on the fact that he'll be able to chase down any ball that is hit deep in his territory—a pretty ballsy move given the slug-happy tendencies of modern-day hitters.
This shallow style of positioning, which originated back in the dead-ball era (1903-1918), allows for the outfielder to regularly turn bloop singles and line drives into outs. As such, Jones is fully prepared to grab balls that others would have no chance at.
He has brought an ancient style of shallow outfield positioning back from the grave, during an era of baseball that is known for deep-ball hitters.
While Jones' throwback style results in balls occasionally flying over his head, he makes up for it by regularly taking away shallow base hits. Furthermore, his first step is so good that he gets to a lot of deep shots that appear to be out of his range—and his arm is strong enough to keep runners honest, even when long balls drop in.
Admittedly, Jones' defensive abilities have withered somewhat in recent years—however, this has been counteracted by an impressive surge in his offensive prowess.
Jones is always going to hit below the league average and do his best Rob Deer impression when it comes to whiffing the ball. But his power numbers in recent years have drastically improved. He hit 51 homers in '05 and 129 RBI in '06—both career highs.
He's whacked 30 or more dingers in seven different seasons throughout his tenure in the league, and will most likely eclipse the career 400-home-run mark by the time he hangs up his cleats.
Andruw Jones has been past his prime on the defensive end for some time now, though at his peak, he was as good as it gets. This, coupled with his impressive offensive production since the turn of the millennium, allows for Jones' inclusion as one of the 10 best center fielders to ever play the game.
No 9: Kirby Puckett
When I think of Kirby Puckett, I think of him braced up against the glass at the Metrodome, jumping at exactly the right time to pull a home run into his glove—and the excited fans in the frame behind him.
What an amazing player Kirby was. He was the heart and soul of those two championship Twins teams in '87 and '91.
Kirby could do a lot of other things besides jam himself up against the glass like a hockey player: he could hit, throw, and field a baseball pretty damn well, too. &nbs
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5 months ago
Excellent, Zander. Glad to see Kirby getting some love. He may be the funnest player some people have watched.
The bowling ball. You gotta love him.
Great work! Looking forward to 6-4!
5 months ago
Good job.
Andrew Jones is by far the best defensive outfielder i've seen.
5 months ago
Good read...
Griffey was easily the best CF I ever saw, (25 years old) if he did not run into injury problems--while playing that 'balls out' CF he would be in the conversation with Bonds/Arod as the best modern player.
What made him such a great CF was he made every play, not just the highlight plays. Jones had been a top defensive CF in his younger days in ATL but he seemed to struggle with some of the easier plays, but I have to say that he did cover alot of ground b/c he always seemed to play either extremley deep or extremely shallow.
Griffey was a true 5 tool player with his effortless swing, he could run and his arm in center was always underrated.
I am interested to see the rest of the list because I cannot think of another outfielder who could have been considered the best glove and bat at his position. For me, with all of the questions that haunt Bonds, Griffey is the best outfielder of the last 15 years, even with his injuries.
from 5 months ago
Mays.
from 5 months ago
You're right, Andruw Jones gets so much love because his Braves games were world wide ... like you said. The TBS exposure was priceless for him. My mother became a big Braves fan that way in Carolina ...but cripes amighty the man's a freakin' WHALE now! I saw Tony Gwynn get big before he retired, and he could still hit, but Jones has lost his stroke too fast.
5 months ago
Great article. Thanks for including Carey; it makes me savor your next list because I know you'll dig into the proud history of the game.
Andruw is no doubt one of the best of all time. At the risk of sounding picky, he could have been better. That may sound far-fetched, but I think if he kept some of the extra weight off of him and ran a little more he would have added a step or two to his range. In many ways, he was greatly responsible for the lower ERAs in Atlanta during the late 90's.
5 months ago
Can't wait to see the rest. I agree with Andew about Kirby. Definitely one of the all-time greats, and it amazes me to think of Jr. as #7, but I know that there are many, many great CF in this games great history that will prove this to be correct. Though if he hadn't run into injuries he'd easily be top 3.
5 months ago
Hard to comment, really no arguments. Maybe something in coming posts.
from 5 months ago
Lj-
You are right, I never saw Mays, minus alot of grainy footage around the Allstar break and playoff time but I will assume he will be near the top. I just don't know that Griffey will ever get the credit he deserves b/c of the injurys. Even with most of the last 5-6 years on/off the DL he has 600 hr and no one will ever take away his collection of CF gems, my brother said he used to play center like Eric Burns with talent!!
What do think of Andruw Jones?? I watched alot of ATL games (thanks Ted Turner) and while he was a great CF I don't think he deserves to be on a top 10 alltime list. HE made alot of higlight catches but his bat was up and down, and after hitting 50 hrs I dont know that he will ever hit 35 again. I am surprised to see him get so much love...
5 months ago
Keep in mind Wesley that this is my top ten list of DEFINITIVE CENTER FIELDERS, not best MLB players of all time who happened to play center field.
As such I tend to weigh defense into the equation pretty heavily. Andruw Jones does things in the outfield that people haven't done in half a century...at his peak he was undoubtedly one of the best all time at his position defensively. This coupled with the fact that he has managed to whack 30 or more dingers in seven different seasons makes it difficult to deny him a place on the list (though admittedly the #10 slot was a close call between Jones and an equally impressive defensive CF, Richie Ashburn).
Agree with you completely about Griffey though. I worry too that he will be underrated in the long run even though he dominated baseball for an entire decade...that said, I think historians will embrace him as "The-Power-Hitter-That-Didn't-Juice" and for that he may get more respect than you think.
from 5 months ago
When people talk about Griffey in the future it will be 15 minutes of hitting BIG Home Runs and 1.5 minutes of "btw he was the best CF of his time too". He was certainly equal to anyone in the game's history during his reign in Seattle.
It's hard to envision KG Jr. being underrated until all those '89 Upper Deck cards are a .25¢ but defense has become really passé here lately ... possibly due to the S*****D deal.
from 5 months ago
I hear you, Jones did play a crazy shallow CF and had a good arm...
Your right, that does make a difference, your defense is what makes you a center fielder, can't hide any bad gloves up the middle.
Looking forward to the throw backs in the rest of the list...
Let me put in my vote for Brady Anderson and Mike Devereaux...go O's
from 5 months ago
I'd say it goes further than steroids L.J. The whole conception of a "five tool" player is a lot less popular these days when books like Moneyball come out making poignant arguments that certain statistical categories are a lot more important than others (namely that hitting is far more important than defense).
Hence why I thought it'd be fun to do a kick-back list of sorts where the beauty of the game/fundamental skills of ballplayers count as much as the numbers. You'll see as the later volumes are published that I definitely do not shy away from examining statistics, but that I take other factors into account as well.
5 months ago
Just my opinion but I live in MN so I would think Puckett would be higher on the list. Allthogh I am sure that once the rest of the list is published Ill be right with you.
Griffy is my favorite Player period, Best swing in baseball history, again just my opinion, but if he didnt run into injuries I think he would be right in line to be the first player to break the home run record with out having an asterix attatched to it.
from 5 months ago
Kirby was the 'working man's' Center Fielder, not always pretty but always getting to the ball one way or another. He was a 'hero' kinda guy.
KG Jr. made CF sexy again.
from 5 months ago
I wish I could throw Kirby up higher too man. He was such an inspiring ball player to watch...gave his heart and soul to that franchise and to the game.
Not to sound like an old fart (no offense, LJ) but they just don't make em' like they used too...the guy always hustled.
R.I.P. KP
from 5 months ago
I Agree 200%, K.P. was a great inspiration.
from 5 months ago
"old fart"...very funny Z. I'll git ya...I'll git ya.
5 months ago
RE: Max Carey. You righteously pulled one outta the hat that NO ONE would have thought of Z Man. That's worth 10 starz ...I have a left handed glove from the mid-late twenties and I can see why, with Carey's range, he would lead the NL in errors with a mitten like that. One absolutely must use two hands to catch anything, pop fly, line drive or ground ball, with a glove from the pre-war era.
I can see Max Carey making this list on his bat also.
You've got people scrounging through Baseball Reference on that pick!
from 5 months ago
Appreciate the support LJ. It is truly insane how small those gloves were—fielding in the dead ball era was indeed an entirely different can of worms...
I hope you're right and that people are indeed scrounging through Baseball Reference. The world needs more fans who want to learn about the old timers!
5 months ago
"This, coupled with his impressive offensive production since the turn of the millennium, allows for Jones' inclusion as one of the 10 best center fielders to ever play the game."
I guess nobody told Andruw and his .166 average this year...
5 months ago
LOL, guess not...admittedly, he's completely lost his ability to hit for average the last two seasons.
5 months ago
Hey Zander I am currently unable to write notes, write articles or post comment replies.
There is some sort of page error.
Can u explain or assist?
Thanks S
5 months ago
unbelievable zander!! i loved this article greatly!
5 months ago
Andrew Jones has never won an MVP award, and only came in the top three in voting once. When Jones' career is done, given he continues his performance of the past two years, i doubt greatly that he will be concidered at top 10 centerfielder. Griffey can never get another hit and is guaranteed a spot. That's reason enough not put him on this well crafted and thought out list.
4 months ago
Where is Duke?
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