ARLINGTON, Texas -- It was something Dodgers fans rarely saw from Andruw Jones last year: a home run.The Dodgers fans in attendance during Saturday night's Rangers-Dodgers game booed Jones during four trips to the plate. The Rangers fans cheered Jones when he hit a tying home run to right field in the sixth inning.
Though the Dodgers won, 3-1, it was Jones getting a little revenge on the Dodgers for giving up on him last year. Jones is still upset with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt for letting him out of his contract last year.
You really couldn't blame McCourt considering Jones was overweight, lacked production and booed almost every at-bat by Dodgers fans.
But Jones felt McCourt didn't know what he was doing by releasing him last year. He told the Los Angeles Times on Friday he felt disrespected by the owner.
Before Saturday night's game he didn't back down when talking to FanHouse.
"We talked, but I think, he got a little too involved with the situation," Jones said of McCourt. "I know the baseball team is his everything and he's the one that's paying the bills and everything, (but) if you don't play games, you don't know what's going on to a lot of people. I don't think he was fair enough in handling (the release) and backing me up in the situation and it's one of those things you learn from it and move on."
Jones signed a two-year, $36.2 million contract last year and reported to camp overweight. His troubles continued when he did an interview with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times that didn't make him look good. And when the season ended, Jones hit just .158 in 75 games with three home runs and 76 strikeouts.
"(Simers) asked him did he think he needed to change something, maybe lose weight, stuff like that," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of that interview. "Andruw, he didn't dismiss him, he just basically (said) I'll be alright and I think Andruw all of a sudden put a lot of pressure on himself and there was a lot of attention paid to him and he got to the point where he was fighting it all the time. Then, of course, he's trying to hit a home run and that made it that much tougher. It was a tough year for him."
Torre said Jones did care about his weight and whether or not he was hitting the ball, but the way he came across hurt him with the fans and media.
Saturday night, Jones snapped a 0-for-17 slump with a homer to right to tie the game at 1-1. It was his first opposite-field homer since July 14, 2007.
Jones said the homer against the Dodgers didn't give him any sort of revenge against McCourt.
"I don't know, I'm not going to comment on that," he said. "I have nothing t say about that, man."
Jones has found new life here thanks to hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo's mentorship. Jones is hitting .248 with six home runs, 16 RBI and a .505 slugging percentage this year.
"As soon as I got released by them, it was time to move on," Jones said of the Dodgers. "Life moves on when you're getting into situations you weren't that comfortable with in the way they wanted to go. It was time to move on and turn the page and I've gotten comfortable here."
Saturday night, his first two at-bats were groundouts to third, but that sixth-inning blast -- about three rows deep to right -- tied him for 62nd all-time with Norm Cash and Jeff Kent at 377 home runs. In the eighth, with a runner on and his team down two runs, Jones worked the count to 3-2 before bouncing into a force out.
"It's just an opportunity to play, just another team," Jones said of the Dodgers. "It's long gone and there's nothing to say about it."
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andruw Jones was my favorite player until he became fatter and sloppier than me (im a 280 pound former d-3 offensive lineman) I only mention this because Andruw Jones was an ALL STAR CENTER-FIELDER at the time
What did Jones expect from the Braves and Dodgers? He was paid too much after he become a fat slob! He should have used Mr larry Jones as his role model.
Are you kidding me??? Worst performance ever last year. He couldn't hit Little League pitching!
Jones did nothing to get the fans on his side. He came into spring training 30 lbs. heavier than he was the year before and did nothing to lose it.He told an L.A. sportswriter he didn't care what the fans thought about him. His constant smirks after a strike-out gave him a real'I don't care' attitude. Now it's the Dodger's turn to return the favor.
If he could open up and hit like he opens his pie hole he might finish the season hitting 260, which is about 100 points higher than the fat slob got last year in LA. So typical is the athlete today that signs the big contract and shows up out of shape or with an attitude of entitlement. Where are the Kurt Gibsons of yesteryear who jump on their new teammates when they screw around in spring training and tell them the way its going to be. Oh wait, the Dodgers won a championship that year, he was MVP and well I wonder if their is a connection.