Almost 30 years ago, in August of 1996, the Atlanta Braves called up their phenom. Andruw Jones had flown through the minor leagues, and the temptation to see what he could do against the big boys was too much to resist. Jones was 19 years old. Crazy, wasn’t it, to call up a kid that young to face the best pitchers in the world? That same day, I was a television sports anchor in Macon, Ga., where a year earlier Jones had hit 25 home runs and stole 56 bases – as an 18-year-old – for the Macon Braves. I was called and told there was someone at old Luther Williams Field that might give me a sound bite about the best prospect in baseball getting that important promotion. But the caller wouldn’t...
