Andruw Jones and Ceddanne Rafaela
Andruw Jones and Ceddanne Rafaela are both elite MLB outfielders from Curaçao Ceddannerafaela.com
Andruw's Critique: Jones voiced frustration with how the Boston Red Sox have handled Rafaela's defensive positioning.
He argued that Boston should keep Rafaela in center field full-time so he can rack up Gold Gloves rather than bouncing him between shortstop, second base, and the outfield.
Ceddanne Rafaela is a Curaçaoan professional baseball center fielder and shortstop for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB).
- Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela
- Born: 9/18/2000 in Willemstad, Curacao
- Debut: 8/28/2023
- Growing up in Willemstad, Rafaela played in the Pariba Little League and represented the Caribbean region with his team in the 2012 Little League World Series; Curaçao made it to the third round of competition before being eliminated by Mexico.[5]
www.ceddannerafaela.com Boston Red Sox player Ceddanne Rafaela.
- Andruw Rudolph Jones
- Nickname: The Curacao Kid
- Born: 4/23/1977 in Willemstad, Curacao
- High School: St. Paulus T.C. School, Willemstad, NA
- Debut: 8/15/1996
- Hall of Fame: 2026
Jones ranked second in the majors when he hit 51 homers in 2005, finishing second in the NL MVP voting. He also became the youngest player to hit a home run in a World Series before memorably going deep again in his next at-bat.
The first native of Curaçao to reach the Hall of Fame, Andruw Jones was the premier defender on the Braves’ dynasty teams.
Jones was 19 years, 5 months old in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium when he beat Mickey Mantle’s mark for the youngest player with a Series homer by 18 months. Jones homered against Andy Pettitte in the second inning and Brian Boehringer in the third inning of a 12-1 rout. He became only the second player to homer in his first two Series at-bats, following Oakland’s Gene Tenace in 1972.
Jones finished with 434 homers but was known first for his defense. His Gold Gloves came in a stretch of 10 consecutive seasons beginning in 1998. Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. are the only other center fielders to win double-digit Gold Gloves. www.ceddannerafaela.com
About Andruw Jones
Quickly establishing himself as a premium defender in the outfield, Jones became just the fourth player in history to hit two home runs in his first World Series game when he homered twice against the Yankees in Game 1 of the 1996 Fall Classic.
He became the youngest player to homer in World Series history and just the second to homer in each of his first two World Series at-bats.
The next season, still by rule a rookie, Jones began the year in right field before claiming the center field job in mid-June en route to 18 homers, 70 RBI, 20 steals and a fifth-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.
Andruw Jones was a World Series star before he was officially an MLB rookie, and from there the power-hitting center fielder only got better.
His talent offensively and defensively – along with a maturity beyond his years – put him on a path to Cooperstown.
Born April 23, 1977, in Curaçao, Jones signed with the Braves on July 1, 1993, as an international free agent. He rocketed through three minor league levels in 1996 before debuting with the Braves on Aug. 15 of that year, becoming just the third player from the Dutch Caribbean island to appear in the big leagues.
Jones found his power stroke in 1998 as well, hitting 31 home runs. He earned his first All-Star Game selection in 2000 when he hit .303 with 36 homers and 104 RBI, the first of four seasons in a row where he would hit at least 34 homers.
“He’s a five-star player,” Braves teammate Chipper Jones said. “He can hit, hit for average, run, field and throw with the best in the business.”
In 2005, Jones led all big league hitters with 51 homers and paced the NL with 128 RBI en route to a second-place finish in the NL MVP vote. Over a 10-year stretch from 1998-2007, Jones averaged 158 games played, 31 doubles, 35 home runs, 103 RBI and 12 steals per season while earning acclaim as one of the game’s top defensive center fielders.
In 1998, Jones won the first of 10 straight Gold Glove Awards, just the fifth outfielder to reach double digits. He led all MLB players with a 3.9 defensive WAR that season, the third outfielder in history to reach that figure in one year. A year later, Jones totaled 492 putouts, tied for ninth all-time on the single-season list.
A five-time All-Star, Jones helped the Braves qualify for the postseason every year from 1996-2005. Over 76 postseason games, Jones hit .273 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. Finishing his career with stints with the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees, Jones totaled 383 doubles, 434 home runs, 1,289 RBI and 152 steals. Of all outfielders with at least 400 home runs, only Willie Mays (12) and Ken Griffey Jr. (10) have as many Gold Glove Awards as Jones. No outfielder in history has a better career defensive WAR than Jones’ 24.4.
