COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Andruw Jones will be most remembered for his 12 seasons as a stunning center fielder and 10-time Gold Glove winner with the Braves. But he thinks fondly about playing the 2010 season with the White Sox near the end of his career.
‘‘I love Chicago,’’ Jones said during a media session Saturday at the Clark Sports Center.
How much does he love Chicago?
‘‘Two years ago, I wanted to go to the Chicago Cubs and watch a game [at Wrigley Field] against the Braves,’’ he said. ‘‘I sat in the center-field bleachers. I loved it because I saw so much joy that those people were having. So I do love Chicago.’’
Jones was inducted Sunday into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, along with fellow outfielder Carlos Beltran and second baseman Jeff Kent.
Jones made it on his ninth of a maximum 10 tries, earning 78.4% of the votes from the 425 ballots cast by eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. It was worth the wait.
Opening his speech in front of a record 57 returning Hall of Famers, Jones said: ‘‘Wow, this is an amazing feeling. First of all, I want to thank baseball writers for voting me into the Hall. Getting that phone call was the most memorable moment in my life. There’s no greater honor in baseball than to be here.’’
Jones thanked his late ballplaying father, Henry; his late Braves manager and fellow Hall of Famer, Bobby Cox; the late Hank Aaron; and former Braves teammate and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, who never let him waver and always promoted his candidacy.
‘‘The Jones boys are in Cooperstown now,’’ Andruw said.
Jones speaks five languages and is the first native of Curacao to make the Hall. He addressed his countrymen for a moment in their own language, Papiamentu, saying how proud he is to be from that country.
Jones played 17 seasons with five teams, but he was best known for coming up as a 19-year-old with the Braves as a fleet-footed center fielder. His defense made life easier for now-Hall of Fame brothers and former Braves pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. He highlighted that first season with a pair of home runs in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series at Yankee Stadium, but the Braves ultimately lost that series to the Yankees.
Jones recalled that he never wanted to leave the Braves, but he did so after the 2007 season, signing with the Dodgers as a free agent for two years at $36.2 million.
‘‘The Braves were the first team that gave me the opportunity to fall in love and chase a dream,’’ Jones said Saturday. ‘‘I really didn’t want to leave because it was tough to leave an organization that gave me that chance. You fall in love with the city, you marry and your kids grow up there and your home is there. So it was tough leaving.’’
His single season with the Dodgers was a disaster. He was overweight, suffered torn cartilage in his right knee and batted .158 in only 75 games. The Dodgers cut their losses after that season and paid him $21.4 million to play elsewhere.
‘‘I didn’t play the way I wanted to play,’’ Jones said about his year in Los Angeles.
Jones then bounced from the Rangers to the White Sox, who paid him the minimum of $500,000 in 2010, before finishing his big-league career with the Yankees.
He played in 107 games for the Sox, batting .230 with 19 homers, 48 RBI and an .827 OPS. Not too shabby.
‘‘I went to Chicago, and [then-manager] Ozzie Guillen told me, ‘Hey, if you come in in shape, I’m gonna play you,’ ’’ Jones said. ‘‘So I worked hard, I got ready and I had a great year. I carried the team for a little while during the first half. But Chicago was fun. I had a great time. Enjoyed
everybody, every bit of it.
‘‘I played in some great cities: Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago and finishing in New York. Even Japan was awesome, where I played two years and won a championship. I mean, I was very lucky.’’