Andruw Jones' Hall of Fame election opens up a Cooperstown pathway for Yankees icon

Last winter's Hall of Fame election featured CC Sabathia sliding in on the first ballot, simultaneously opening up a lot of eyes to the reality of Andy Pettitte's case. This year's results might have carved out a similar pathway for his Core Four companion Bernie Williams.

Atlanta Braves legend (and Yankees footnote, as both a late-career bench option and World Series thorn) Andruw Jones finally gained election in his ninth attempt on the BBWAA ballot. We wish Williams, along with Jim Edmonds and Kenny Lofton, had been given similar opportunities to stick around and gain momentum. Unfortunately, the best we can now hope for is that they're considered on the merits of their cases by smaller groupings of their peers. All three deserve that chance — both before and after the Jones verdict, but Tuesday's news certainly helped.

Pettitte's surge was a simple one-to-one; with three years left on the ballot after Sabathia's coronation, all he had to do was stay the course and hope the baseball writers would realize the symmetry of the two lefties' careers before it was too late. If they agreed, they had an immediate action item ahead of them: just tick the box.

In Bernie's case, he'll need to wait for a future veterans' committee nomination. It'll take a good deal of forethought for the comparison to ultimately come to roost, but the similarities are impossible to deny after Jones earned 78.4% of the vote.

Jones finished his sterling career — mostly concentrated between the ages of 19 and 30 — with a 111 OPS+ and 62.7 bWAR, much of that derived from his defensive value. Williams? His 125 OPS+ is a tier above Jones, though his career WAR is lower (49.6). Thought of as a graceful defender in his prime, much of his center field praise was anecdotal. People compimented Williams on his defensive prowess; the numbers made Jones' skills undeniable (and, yes, he also held the same narrative edge).

Andruw Jones makes Baseball Hall of Fame, so Yankees icon Bernie Williams should be elected someday, too.

In the spotlight? You couldn't escape either Williams or Jones. The Braves were annual division champions and two-time World Series losers during Jones' prime (you're welcome). Williams won four rings with the Yankees, and not as a hanger-on. He was the engine. He steered the wheel. He was a playoff riser, a la Pettitte, and ALCS MVP. He walked off the '96 Orioles and '99 Red Sox. It didn't matter what side of the plate he arrived at; he was prepared to lace a liner wherever it needed to land.

Jones had more prodigious power (434 homers to 287 in 270 fewer at-bats), but Williams outhit the newest Hall of Famer .297 to .254, and picked up 2,336 hits while Jones failed to cross the 2k threshold (a jarring 1,933). Both were five-time All-Stars; Williams made it annually from 1997-2001, almost cementing a different level of fame during his gilded peak. During the entire Yankees dynasty, Williams continually redefined what it meant to be at the center of it all (but was, and is, too humble to mention it).

Jones' case is complex, two years short of slam dunk status. Williams isn't a shoo-in, either, and it will remain logistically difficult to honor him someday. Still, his already potent case was strengthened by the will of the voters this winter, and stamped with an exclamation point on Tuesday. If the guy who lost all those World Series got in, shouldn't the guy who won them get the same treatment?