New Yankee Clipper

Andruw Jones has been touted as the best player the Atlanta Braves have signed since Hank Aaron, and some have compared him to a young Roberto Clemente, but the 19-year-old outfielder isn’t even considered the most dangerous Jones in the Braves’ lineup.

That distinction belongs to third baseman Chipper Jones . . . at least, it did until Sunday night, when the Braves thrashed the New York Yankees, 12-1, in Game 1 of the World Series before a subdued crowd of 56,365 at Yankee Stadium.

Andruw Jones became the youngest player to hit a home run in the World Series with a two-run shot off starter Andy Pettitte in the second inning, and then became only the second player to homer in his first two World Series at-bats with a three-run shot in the third off Brian Boehringer.

Fred McGriff added a solo homer in the fifth, Chipper Jones knocked in three runs, Marquis Grissom and Mark Lemke each had two hits, and John Smoltz gave up only two hits in six innings to lead the Braves to the largest margin of victory in a World Series game since Kansas City beat St. Louis, 11-0, in Game 7 in 1985.

It also continued a remarkable run of dominance for Atlanta, which has outscored the St. Louis Cardinals and Yankees by the combined score of 44-2 in its last four playoff games.

“The ball looks like the moon right now,” said Chipper Jones, who had a two-run single during the Braves’ six-run third and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. “We’re all looking at each other and saying, ‘What the heck is going on?’ ”

One would think Andruw Jones would be asking the same question, considering this baby-faced Yankee killer began this season at Class-A Durham before shooting through the Brave farm system.

Who would have thought a youngster who signed for a mere $46,000 three years ago after the Braves mined him off the tiny Caribbean island of Curacao, who, believe it or not, is just seven years older than Jeff Maier, the pint-sized New Jersey kid who reached over the wall to turn a potential out into a game-tying homer for the Yankees in the American League championship series, would be a World Series hero?

“What can you say about the guy? He just had two of the finest at-bats of the season,” Chipper Jones said. “He makes it look easy. Even at 19, he looks like he should be here. Even when he was 16, he looked like he belonged here.”

Andruw Jones acted like he belonged here Sunday night.

Was he nervous?

“No, I was real comfortable, and I think that showed in the game.”

Was he intimidated by the hostile New York fans?

“No, they weren’t that bad. I just tried to block them out and play the game.”

What did he think about the fact that the previous youngest player to homer in the World Series was a fellow named Mickey Mantle, only one of the greatest players in baseball history?

“That makes this a real special moment.”

Jones, the first player since Oakland’s Gene Tenace in 1972 to homer in his first two series at-bats, went through the entire post-game interview process with a grin but never broke into laughter. He seemed too cool for that.

“He’s a unique player, and what makes him unique is he has the attitude that this is just another game,” Atlanta shortstop Jeff Blauser said. “I don’t think he really understands what he’s accomplished, but that’s what makes him successful. He realizes it’s just a game.”

Givanni Viceisza, a scout for the Braves, was the first to notice Jones in Curacao and recommended him to Paul Snyder, Atlanta’s scouting director and former special assistant to General Manager John Schuerholz. There was one problem, though: Jones was only 15, and players can’t sign until they’re 16.

The Orioles, Yankees and Marlins were soon hot on the Jones trail, but keeping his word to Viceisza, Jones signed with the Braves for what turned out to be a bargain-basement price.

After earning minor league player-of-the-year honors his first two seasons, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Jones began this season at Durham but advanced to double-A Greenville, triple-A Richmond and then to Atlanta on Aug. 14.

He hit only .217 in 31 games with the Braves, but Jones got hot in Game 7 of the National League championship series, homering against St. Louis, and with the Braves having the luxury of using the designated hitter in Yankee Stadium, Manager Bobby Cox started usual left fielder Ryan Klesko at DH and Jones in left.

“Now, I might use him in every game,” Cox said of Jones.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre said all he knew about Jones “was that he likes to hit the ball that’s up . . . and it held true.”

After Javy Lopez’s single in the second, Jones drilled a full-count fastball from Pettitte 388 feet into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead. He then followed Chipper Jones’ two-run single and McGriff’s RBI single in the third with a three-run blast to left-center off Boehringer, who left a 3-2 slider up.

“He has a lot of talent--it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” Cox said. “He’s about as good a prospect as you’re going to see. You don’t treat him like a 19-year old. You treat him like a kid who’s been in the major leagues for four or five years.”

The eight early runs were more than enough to back Smoltz, but the Braves, for good measure, added another run in the fifth and three in the sixth.

“We’ve lost a lot of tough games and bounced back, we just have to put this behind us,” Torre said. “At least no one will lay awake tonight thinking they could have done something different to turn the tide--that’s a positive.”

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No Contest

Double-digit margins in World Series games:

14

Oct. 2, 1936--New York (AL) 18, New York-NL 4

13

Oct. 6, 1960--New York (AL) 16, Pittsburgh 3

12

Oct. 9, 1951--New York (AL) 13, New York (NL) 1

Oct. 12, 1960--New York (AL) 12, Pittsburgh 0

Oct. 9, 1968--Detroit 13, St. Louis 1

Oct. 19, 1982--St. Louis 13, Milwaukee 1

11

Oct. 26, 1911--Philadelphia (AL) 13, N.Y. (NL) 2

Oct. 9, 1934--St. Louis (NL) 11, Detroit 0

Oct. 1, 1959--Chicago (AL) 11, Dodgers 0

Oct. 27, 1985--Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0

Oct. 20, 1996--Atlanta 12, New York (AL) 1

10

Oct. 8, 1960--New York-AL 10, Pittsburgh 0

Oct. 15, 1978--New York-AL 12, Dodgers 2

Oct. 12, 1982-- Milwaukee 10, St. Louis 0

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Sudden Impact

Players who hit home runs in their first World Series at-bat:

*--*

Player Team Year Joe Harris Washington 1925 George Watkins St. Louis 1930 Mel Ott N.Y. Giants 1933 George Selkirk N.Y. Yankees 1936 Dusty Rhodes N.Y. Giants 1954 Elston Howard N.Y. Yankees 1955 Roger Maris N.Y. Yankees 1960 Don Mincher Minnesota 1965 Brooks Robinson Baltimore 1966 Jose Santiago Boston 1967 Mickey Lolich Detroit 1968 Don Buford Baltimore 1969 *Gene Tenace Oakland 1972 Jim Mason N.Y. Yankees 1976 Doug DeCinces Baltimore 1979 Amos Otis Kansas City 1980 Bob Watson N.Y. Yankees 1981 Jim Dwyer Baltimore 1983 Mickey Hatcher Dodgers 1988 Jose Canseco Oakland 1988 Bill Bathe San Francisco 1989 Eric Davis Cincinnati 1990 Ed Sprague Toronto 1992 Fred McGriff Atlanta 1995 *Andruw Jones Atlanta 1996

*--*

*-homered first two at-bats