Throwback Thursday: The Major League debut of Andruw Jones

Sometimes, you just know.

And with Andruw Jones, the Atlanta Braves knew from the very beginning that he was special.

Centerfielder Andruw Jones debuted at age 19, on August 15, 1996, and didn't take long to make his presence felt. His closed his final game with a memorable at-bat, culminating in both his first hit and his first RBI.

He ripped an RBI single into left field off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Toby Borland for an RBI in the 9th inning and then came around to score on a Fred McGriff double.

Let's watch the video, courtesy of our friends over at Braves on TBS:

#ThrowbackThursday | @braves_today

With the recent announcement that the Atlanta Braves will retire his number, here’s a look back to where it all started: August 15, 1996 at The Vet in Philadelphia. @andruwjones25 makes his Major League debut and gets his first hit and RBI! pic.twitter.com/txo2MZcSZ8
— Braves on TBS (@BravesOnTBS) April 6, 2023

Atlanta went on to win Jones's debut against the Phillies by a score of 8-5, and Jones went on to play twelve season in Atlanta. He won ten straight Gold Gloves and was named an All-Star on five separate occasions (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, & 2006). He was the 2005 Silver Slugger, winning the NL Hank Aaron Award and being crowned the MLB Player of the Year. When he retired in 2012, he had 1,933 hits, 1,289 RBIs, and 434 home runs.

Having been inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame in 2016, Jones has gradually increased in annual Baseball Hall of Fame voting, ending 2022 with 58.1 percent of the vote, his sixth on the ballot. With only ten years of ballot eligibility, Jones projects to reach the 75% threshold in the next four years to eventually be enshrined in Cooperstown.

The Atlanta Braves are retiring the number 25 in honor of Andruw Jones in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, September 9th, the team announced on social media last week:

‼️𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟‼️

The Atlanta Braves will retire number 25, worn by legendary Braves outfielder Andruw Jones! pic.twitter.com/U6Wzhqh7RD
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 3, 2023

Said Jones, via press release, "It's a great honor getting your number retired. You don't think about things like that while playing. You just play the game you love. I'm thankful to the Braves for giving me the opportunity to play the game I love. Being the first kid from Curaçao to have his jersey retired is also an honor. So many kids grew up there watching me play and this will give them hope on what they can do in their careers."