I'm a big fan of raucous high school and college crowds in sports, so long as no lines are crossed into the realm of nasty (going after family members, for example). Just keep it good-natured and it's all in good fun and part of the game. Throwing an "overrated" chant at a highly-touted player is certainly up for debate, but I'm generally good with it, depending upon the player.
Of course, there's also an inherent risk in chanting "overrated" at an incredibly talented player. Enter Druw Jones. Yes, he's the son of Andruw Jones, former All-Star and, in my opinion, should-be Hall of Famer.
Wednesday afternoon, Jones got off to a bit of a rough start. He struck out looking and popped out to shortstop, according to those on hand. He was facing Georgia State commit Brady Jones, who was reportedly sitting 92-94 with his fastball.
For Druw Jones' third at-bat, well, the opposing students apparently felt emboldened after seeing the phenom for just two at-bats. Maybe someone should've taught them about small sample size?
Because, well ...
Here's the side angle from Will Hoefer of prospectslive.com; take note of how Jones was able to stay on top of a hard pitch -- at this age -- above the letters:
That's some damn impressive work against a high-quality high school pitcher.
Here's the quick rundown on Druw Jones from CBS Sports' prospect guru R.J. Anderson just a few weeks ago:
The name isn't a coincidence. Jones is the son of Andruw, the longtime Braves center fielder who won 10 Gold Glove Awards and homered 434 times during his big-league career. Predictably, Jones the Younger should become an eraser himself thanks to his above-average speed and his innate feel for the position. At the plate, he has a fast bat and a projectable frame that betoken future muscle and power gains. Scouts do have concerns about the length of his swing, but they believe at his peak he could be an above-average hitter with plus grades on his defense and his baserunning. Jones has an outstanding commitment to Vanderbilt that he seems more likely to leverage in negotiations (à la Jordan Lawlar, the No. 6 pick last summer) than he is to honor it.
Here's guessing this is far from the last time Jones is mentioned in this space. I would recommend to future student sections that it's the last time he's serenaded with "overrated" chants, however. More often than not, those things end badly.
