Friday, February 24, 2006
Andruw not satisfied with '05 numbers
02/21/2006
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Those who expected Andruw Jones to simply rest on last year's accomplishments don't understand that his passion for the game of baseball prevents him from staying away from the game for any extended period of time.
After filling his home's trophy case with the multitude of postseason awards he earned last year, Jones began spending a number of hours in another wing of his Atlanta-area home -- the one with the state-of-the art batting cage.
With every swing, Jones was quenching his incredible thirst for the game and at the same time attempting to further perfect the swing that enabled him to hit a Major League-best 51 homers and finish second in balloting for last year's National League Most Valuable Player Award.
"Even if I hit 20 home runs or 10 home runs last year, it doesn't matter," Jones said. "Or I could have won the MVP last year, it doesn't matter. I'm always looking forward to getting to [Spring Training] and start working on stuff."
When Braves pitchers and catchers reported to Disney's Wide World of Sports complex last week, Jones was among the early arrivals. Because he's playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, he was allowed to participate in the team's workouts.
But the early arrival wasn't anything new for the 28-year-old center fielder, who has won eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards. The difference this year is that he was able to do more than simply spend the first week of camp limited to taking swings in the batting cages.
"He's working hard enough now to surpass everything that he did last year," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Along with his Major League-leading homer output last year, Jones also set a career high mark in RBIs with 128. The total might have been much more impressive had he not hit .207 with runners in scoring position.
When it came time for media members to vote for the NL MVP, that was a number they couldn't overlook. Nor could they ignore that even with seemingly more consistency, he batted just .263 -- a mark that was marred with an 0-for-28 April spell and the fact that he had just six hits in his final 51 at-bats of the season.
It's not as if Jones isn't capable of producing better numbers in either of these categories. From June 10 to Sept. 14, he hit .299. During the months of July and August, he produced that exact mark with runners in scoring position.
Jones knows he still has room to improve in the consistency department. Thus, he's more than willing to spend extra time in the batting cages and do such things as being one of the first arrivals to Spring Training.
"I'm always looking forward to coming down here," Jones said. "I get bored at home. It's not that I don't love my wife or nothing. I love the game. I love to play baseball. I love to come out here and hit the ball and get ready to do something."
While he believes another 50-homer season is definitely possible, Jones isn't making any guarantees. But he expects pitchers are still going to be willing to challenge him, which could lead them to make the mistakes that he took advantage of on a regular basis last year.
Jones doesn't think it was a coincidence that he, Albert Pujols and Derrek Lee -- all right-handed hitters -- were the top three home run producers in the NL last year. With most of the league's pitchers being right-handed, he believes it created more situations in which they were challenged more than a left-handed hitter would have been.
"I think I've got an advantage on a lot of the guys, because I'm a right-hander and there's a lot of right-handed pitchers who think they're going to get you out," Jones said. "They probably will get you out. But they'll probably make more mistakes to a right-hander than they will to a left-hander."
If Jones is able to improve upon last year's accomplishments, he'll be positioning himself for a hefty raise. His contract doesn't expire until the end of the 2007 season and he says he has never envisioned a future away from Atlanta.
"I love the Braves," said Jones, who has been in the organization since signing as a 16 year-old in 1993. "I love Atlanta. I've got my house there. So why try to find somewhere else and find another home. Hopefully when the time gets here, we'll get something worked out. But I don't think about it right now. I feel like I've signed a 100-year contract."
A year before becoming a free agent at the end of the 2002 season, Jones showed his dedication to the Braves by neglecting the responsibility of his agent Scott Boras, and using his father to negotiate his current six-year, $75 million contract.
It doesn't appear the Braves will have the same luxury this time around. Boras called Jones numerous times last year and said, "don't do anything crazy."
But for now, the next contract seems to be the furthest thing from his mind. Since making his Major League debut with the Braves in 1996, he's been a part of 10 division-winning teams and played in two World Series. As for a world championship, it's something that's eluded him and been in the back of his mind during every extra hour of work he's completed during the offseason.
"I want to win a championship and I want to win a ring," Jones said. "You can win all these stuff and put up great numbers. You can be the home run king or whatever. But if you don't win the World Series ring, you don't feel like you have everything."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Those who expected Andruw Jones to simply rest on last year's accomplishments don't understand that his passion for the game of baseball prevents him from staying away from the game for any extended period of time.
After filling his home's trophy case with the multitude of postseason awards he earned last year, Jones began spending a number of hours in another wing of his Atlanta-area home -- the one with the state-of-the art batting cage.
With every swing, Jones was quenching his incredible thirst for the game and at the same time attempting to further perfect the swing that enabled him to hit a Major League-best 51 homers and finish second in balloting for last year's National League Most Valuable Player Award.
"Even if I hit 20 home runs or 10 home runs last year, it doesn't matter," Jones said. "Or I could have won the MVP last year, it doesn't matter. I'm always looking forward to getting to [Spring Training] and start working on stuff."
When Braves pitchers and catchers reported to Disney's Wide World of Sports complex last week, Jones was among the early arrivals. Because he's playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, he was allowed to participate in the team's workouts.
But the early arrival wasn't anything new for the 28-year-old center fielder, who has won eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards. The difference this year is that he was able to do more than simply spend the first week of camp limited to taking swings in the batting cages.
"He's working hard enough now to surpass everything that he did last year," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Along with his Major League-leading homer output last year, Jones also set a career high mark in RBIs with 128. The total might have been much more impressive had he not hit .207 with runners in scoring position.
When it came time for media members to vote for the NL MVP, that was a number they couldn't overlook. Nor could they ignore that even with seemingly more consistency, he batted just .263 -- a mark that was marred with an 0-for-28 April spell and the fact that he had just six hits in his final 51 at-bats of the season.
It's not as if Jones isn't capable of producing better numbers in either of these categories. From June 10 to Sept. 14, he hit .299. During the months of July and August, he produced that exact mark with runners in scoring position.
Jones knows he still has room to improve in the consistency department. Thus, he's more than willing to spend extra time in the batting cages and do such things as being one of the first arrivals to Spring Training.
"I'm always looking forward to coming down here," Jones said. "I get bored at home. It's not that I don't love my wife or nothing. I love the game. I love to play baseball. I love to come out here and hit the ball and get ready to do something."
While he believes another 50-homer season is definitely possible, Jones isn't making any guarantees. But he expects pitchers are still going to be willing to challenge him, which could lead them to make the mistakes that he took advantage of on a regular basis last year.
Jones doesn't think it was a coincidence that he, Albert Pujols and Derrek Lee -- all right-handed hitters -- were the top three home run producers in the NL last year. With most of the league's pitchers being right-handed, he believes it created more situations in which they were challenged more than a left-handed hitter would have been.
"I think I've got an advantage on a lot of the guys, because I'm a right-hander and there's a lot of right-handed pitchers who think they're going to get you out," Jones said. "They probably will get you out. But they'll probably make more mistakes to a right-hander than they will to a left-hander."
If Jones is able to improve upon last year's accomplishments, he'll be positioning himself for a hefty raise. His contract doesn't expire until the end of the 2007 season and he says he has never envisioned a future away from Atlanta.
"I love the Braves," said Jones, who has been in the organization since signing as a 16 year-old in 1993. "I love Atlanta. I've got my house there. So why try to find somewhere else and find another home. Hopefully when the time gets here, we'll get something worked out. But I don't think about it right now. I feel like I've signed a 100-year contract."
A year before becoming a free agent at the end of the 2002 season, Jones showed his dedication to the Braves by neglecting the responsibility of his agent Scott Boras, and using his father to negotiate his current six-year, $75 million contract.
It doesn't appear the Braves will have the same luxury this time around. Boras called Jones numerous times last year and said, "don't do anything crazy."
But for now, the next contract seems to be the furthest thing from his mind. Since making his Major League debut with the Braves in 1996, he's been a part of 10 division-winning teams and played in two World Series. As for a world championship, it's something that's eluded him and been in the back of his mind during every extra hour of work he's completed during the offseason.
"I want to win a championship and I want to win a ring," Jones said. "You can win all these stuff and put up great numbers. You can be the home run king or whatever. But if you don't win the World Series ring, you don't feel like you have everything."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
