Andruw Jones' stats through 7/23

[sickemsmokey10]

181 at bats
.166 batting average
.269 On base percentage
.249 Slugging
20 runs
30 hits
7 doubles
1 triple
2 home runs
12 RBI's
25 walks
66 Strikeouts
0 steals
1 caught stealing

good lord...

biggest victim of the steroids scandal?

[GAVol]

I don't even slightly suspect Andruw Jones of doing steroids. He just got fat.

[Vercingetorix]

I don't think it's steroids as much as bat speed. Read this on Usenet last year -- while he was a more effective hitter OPS-wise then than Jeff Francouer is now, by the way -- and it seems to sum it up pretty well for me:

The obvious answer is bat speed. Andruw was always a grip it and rip hitter. He always sat fastball and flailed at breaking pitches, never
really identifying them very well. In his prime, that was plenty good
enough as he could wait longer on the fastball and at least manage to
foul off the breaking stuff on occasion. But if he's lost a tick on
the bat speed he has to guess that much earlier, start his swing that
much earlier, and thus flail and miss that much more often. Not sure
if that's what's happened or not, but it explains the phenomenon well
enough.

As to what caused him to lose the bat speed....well, obvious candidates include the weight and injury. I've never heard this anywhere credible, but it would explain a lot of things if Andruw is actually two or three years older than what it says on his birth certificate.

[615 Vol]

It wasn't a good signing for the Dodgers, that's for sure.

[BigPapaVol]

favors at the gold club probably hurt his vision to some degree, as well

[The Dude]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

I've never heard this anywhere credible, but it would explain a lot of things if Andruw is actually two or three years older than what it says on his birth certificate.

The Dutch Antilles has a more systemized and comprehensive government than the Domincan Republic or Venezuela, so its likely not as easy to falsify a birth certificate there.