[...]... capital city of Willemstad on April 23, 1977, there was no Andruw Jones to emulate Back then, the island’s talented players were invisible to the rest of the world Not only did major-league scouts not bother to visit Curaçao, they may not have even known it existed 9 10 andruw jones A ZEST FOR BASEBALL Instead, Jones entered a world where baseball was a passion, not a job His father, Henry, who worked... play for now—the Atlanta Braves The Braves offered Andruw a $46,000 bonus check to sign in July 1993, and that was that The Braves would bring Andruw Jones and Curaçao—to the world 23 24 andruw jones PLAYING ROOKIE-LEAGUE BALL Like most greenhorn ballplayers, when Andruw arrived in Florida in February 1994 to start his first season of professional baseball, he did not know quite what to expect He had... in against Jones in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series, 15,000 sets of eyes in Curaçao peered in as well, jammed together in Johnny Vrutaal Stadium, watching the action unfold on a bevy of giant-screened televisions set up for the game True to its baseball heritage, when Andruw Jones and the Atlanta Braves reached the World Series, the island had shut down for Game 1 All eyes were on Jones Jones was used... but a regulation baseball Like most toddlers, though, Andruw was not the least bit interested in a boring ball game The boy much preferred to explore his backyard, investigating the strange creatures that creeped and crawled there At the age of 3, however, Andruw received a valuable lesson when an iguana bit him: At least a baseball doesn’t bite After that episode, Andruw s life in baseball began anew,... even a borderline player to the United States Yet to Andruw, baseball in the United States was always on the Isle Baseball Shoppers look over the goods being sold at an open-air market in Willemstad, the capital city of Curaçao Andruw Jones was born in 1977 in Willemstad and grew up in the city’s Brievengat neighborhood There, he learned to play baseball on a dusty field that had no grass horizon,... similar Andruw was to Clemente After watching Andruw effortlessly go through the paces on the field, Snyder decided to test the teenager with a simple Isle Baseball exercise: a timed sprint As Andruw lined up opposite Snyder 60 yards (55 meters) away, he was joined by his father Henry Jones had done so much to help his son get to this point; why not give him one more final push toward his baseball. .. Georgia and saw Andruw Jones for himself, he knew that he had two jobs ahead of him while waiting for Andruw to turn 16 He had to keep news of Andruw s prodigious talents away from other major-league teams, and he had to convince Andruw that, even if the Yankees or Red Sox came calling, Atlanta was still the best place for him to play So what did the Braves do? Simple The organization “hid” Andruw by not... habits of opposing pitchers, 21 22 andruw jones Atlanta Braves executives (from left) Paul Snyder, Ralph Garr, and Kurt Kemp kept track of the action during the 2007 baseball draft In 1993, Snyder, as director of scouting, had urged the Braves to sign Andruw Jones once he turned 16 Until then, the Braves and Snyder had to make sure that no other teams would discover Andruw s talents and sway him to join... 6 andruw jones for the American League champions in 1996, and few baseball insiders, let alone fans, gave the rookie from Curaçao much of a chance against Pettitte—especially on a big stage like the World Series ON THE YANKEE STADIUM STAGE On that October night in storied Yankee Stadium, however, Pettitte had no answer for Andruw Jones In the second inning, facing a 2-1 count with one man on base, Jones. .. players; nobody on Andruw s team came anywhere close to hitting 300 that spring What coaches did see in Andruw was a kid who had a good skill set for the game and unnatural strength for someone his age Unlike some of the other players in camp, Andruw came from an unorthodox baseball background, thanks mostly to his father Few of his teammates could claim to have used training 25 26 andruw jones During a . alt="" BaseBall superstars Andruw Jones Hank Aaron Johnny Damon Lou Gehrig Derek Jeter Andruw Jones Mickey Mantle Albert Pujols Mariano Rivera Jackie Robinson Babe Ruth Ichiro Suzuki Andruw Jones Danny. Danny. Andruw Jones / Danny Abramson. p. cm. — (Baseball superstars) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7910-9647-5 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-7910-9899-8 (pbk) 1. Jones, Andruw, . Curaçao, they may not have even known it existed. Isle Baseball 2 10 ANDRUW JONES A ZEST FOR BASEBALL Instead, Jones entered a world where baseball was a passion, not a job. His father, Henry,