Above: Andruw Jones swings at a pitch in Sunday's game
When a player strikes out four times in a game, he is given the symbolic "Golden Sombrero". The sombrero moniker derives from the hockey term 'hat trick', for a three-goal performance.
Sunday, Braves' slugger Andruw Jones did what no player has done since Alex Rios July 29, 2006. Jones struck out five times in the Braves' loss, gaining the "Platinum Sombrero". This award has been achieved several times throughout the history of the game. In fact, it happened four times in '06, but once by pitcher Clay Hensley, and once by Nick Swisher in a 14-inning game. Players struck out in five at bats only 18 times before 1970, but it has occured nearly twice per season since then.
What's special about Jones' performance is that all five K's were of the swinging variety. I'll have to do a little more research to find out how many times that has happened. This was Jones' response to being moved down to the sixth spot in Atlanta's order. I'm not saying he did this on purpose, but some of those pitches he swung at were a foot outside the zone.
Meanwhile, Andruw is having a miserable season, hitting around the .215 mark. In fact, he has just six hits in his last 40 at bats, with 18 strikeouts. If you play in an NL or mixed fantasy league, and Jones becomes available at a discounted price, you might want to consider snatching him up. He has had slumps like this before (see 2004), but he always pulls out of it at some point. He hit .239 in April of 2005 before finishing with 51 homers.
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