After years of struggling, Andruw Jones is helping contending Yankees

Andruw Jones has found his swing for New York and is making a solid impact. (Photo: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine)

The 2007 season was a trying one for Andruw Jones. It was his last in an Atlanta Braves uniform, and believed to be the beginning of his end. He was only 30, in a contract year, and with a bevy of suitors potentially waiting for him on the free-agency market. This was not the time to lose his swing, but he did in very sad fashion.

That season, he clubbed 26 homers and drove in 94 runs. For many, that would be a tremendously productive season. But it was a severe decline when compared to previous years. In 2005, he hit a career-high 51 homers and drove in 128 runs, while batting his standard .263 and playing in all but two games. He was also a gold glove center-fielder, perhaps the best of his generation. He could get to any ball and make the most difficult catches look effortless. Along with supplying such extraordinary defense, he had another very exceptional season at the plate in 2006, socking 46 homers, driving in 129, and hitting .262 while logging 20 less at-bats.

There were no signs that the 2007 season would be a trying one. He shockingly saw his average dip all the way to .222, and his on-base percentage, which was never very pleasing, fall from .363 to .311. He wasn’t the same. He may have driven in runs and shot balls over the fence, but he was flailing at far too many pitches, consistently not seeing the ball well.

He always had a smile on his face, but at this time in his career it was to hide frustration. The drop in production was eating him up inside. This wasn’t supposed to happen until years down the road. Not a contract year, not now. Chipper and Andruw Jones were supposed to be a dynamic one-two punch until the end and retire where they began their careers, with Atlanta. One will, but the other had to look elsewhere.

He went to the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free-agent. He had clearly put on a few pounds that had no means being there, and struggled mightily. Life at the plate only got worse for Jones. Once one the best clean right-handed power-hitters of his time, he was barely a shadow of his former self. From 1997 to 2007, he played in 154 or more games ever season. He managed to appear in only 157 over the next two seasons, forced to platoon.

Over that span, with the Dodgers and Texas Rangers, he batted an incredibly poor .186, with 20 homers and 57 rbi’s. His mechanics were completely out of whack, beginning with his stance and ending with a loopy, hole-filled swing. Having watched him throughout my childhood, looking up to him as one of my favorite players, his downfall was terribly painful. It was once impossible to picture him in anything but a Braves uniform, but in no time the reality was harsh: during the 2009 offfseason Jones was looking for his third team in three years, hoping someone would take a chance.

The Chicago White Sox did, and though he was regulated to spot-duty with the AL Central power he managed to improve. He hit .230, still a measly mark, but crushed 19 homers, drove in 43 runs, and had a respectable .341 on-base percentage.

Even still, some poor mechanics remained. He was signed by the New York Yankees and hit just .195 during the season’s first half. There was the thought he could be released, but the team stuck with him and their faith has paid off.

His mother has had played an instrumental role in his recent success, as the Wall Street Journal recently documented:

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His mother, Carmen, told Jones that his swing didn’t look right. And like the good boy he is, he listened.

“My mom called and told me—look at your old tapes. I’m not liking the way your legs look,” Jones said.

“Right after the All-Star break, I went home, and I looked at the old tape. So I opened up a little bit, making an adjustment, trying to be more quiet, and more on time, and it’s been working out since the All-Star break.”

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Has it ever. He is hitting .339 in the season’s second half, with seven homers, 16 rbi’s, and 13 walks, leading to an incredible .479 On-Base Percentage. His ability to work counts was on display in New York’s series finale victory over the Boston Red Sox. In four at-bats he saw an unheard-of 36 pitches, leading to three walks. He saw ten pitches in a first-inning at-bat against Jon Lester, then worked one of his walks after a 14-pitch battle with Alfredo Aceves in the game-changing seventh inning.

Teammate Mark Teixeira complained earlier in the series about the length of the rivalry’s games. Jones certainly added a few minutes to last night’s thriller.

“That’s why these games go four-plus hours,” Jones said. “Both sides just battle and battle. You try to do anything to wear down the pitcher, anything that might help you win the game.”

In accomplishing this he is not only getting on base at a prolific clip, but he’s also helping the team by consistently and leisurely rounding them. A power display that was once so frequent has returned, no doubt due to his changed stance and altered swing. Teammate Nick Swisher has been in awe of Jones’ strength, and was notably taken aback by a 434-foot shot to center-field against the Minnesota Twins in mid-August:

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“He hit it, and I watched the swing, and I just said, ‘Oh my.’ The way he swung, the backspin that he put on that baseball—it just kept going, and going, and going. I was like, ‘Bro, that ain’t gonna come down for a while,’” Swisher said, before delivering a quality one-liner. “Bro, I can’t even hit a three-wood up there.”

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Jones entered Spring Training trying to prove he could be an everyday player. He hasn’t done quite enough to earn that honor, but he is nonetheless helping New York and proving he still can play at a high level. He definitely isn’t in the position everyone thought he would be at this stage, based on his excellent prime, but the ten-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star is sporting that memorable smile. For the first time in a long time, it isn’t a mask.