Braves land pair of Joneses on HOF ballot

ATLANTA -- Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones stood as two of the most revered and influential figures within the greatest era in Braves franchise history. The two Braves legends will soon get a better feel for the strength of their Hall of Fame candidacies, as both were on the 2018 Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot for the first time on Monday afternoon.
Chipper Jones stands as a near-certain first-ballot Hall of Famer with a legitimate chance to become just the 16th player to be included on at least 95 percent of the ballots cast. A player must appear on 75 percent of the ballots cast to gain enshrinement.
The 2018 Hall of Fame election announcement will be made on Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network. Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero and Jim Thome stand among the top candidates to gain enshrinement.
• 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot
Chipper Jones hit .303, tallied 468 home runs and constructed a .930 OPS while playing the entirety of his 19-season career with the Braves. The 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner stands with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial and Mel Ott as the only players to compile a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage, at least 450 home runs and at least 2,700 hits over a career.
If inducted into baseball's immortalized palace in Cooperstown, Chipper Jones will join former teammates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Former manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz have also received this hallowed honor.
Through his 29-year-old season (2006), Andruw Jones won nine consecutive NL Gold Glove Awards, compiled an .850 OPS and tallied 342 homers. The Curacao native possesses an interesting candidacy rooted in his defensive excellence. His 62.8 career bWAR places him on the periphery of being considered a strong Hall of Fame candidate.

Andruw Jones had a 46.4 bWAR over the seven best seasons of his career. The only other members of this year's ballot with a greater seven-season sum are Barry Bonds (72.7), Roger Clemens (66.3), Curt Schilling (49.0) and Chipper Jones (46.6).
Some other notable former Braves on this year's ballot include Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Billy Wagner and Kevin Millwood.
McGriff is entering his ninth year on the ballot and has not appeared on more than 23.9 percent of the ballots cast during any of his eight previous seasons of eligibility.
Sheffield appeared on 13.3 percent of the ballots in his third year of eligibility last year, and Wagner has not appeared on more than 10.5 percent of the ballots during either of his two previous years of eligibility. This is Millwood's first appearance on the ballot.