Atlanta Braves Icon to Manage National League Minor Leaguers Before All-Star Game

The game, to be played July 12 at Truist Park in Atlanta, features the top minor league prospects in the game. It will be the 26th edition of the Futures Game, which has become a highlight of All-Star Game festivities each year.

The All-Star Game follows on July 15.

Jones played 18-plus seasons for the Braves, and he’s no stranger to the Midsummer Classic. He is an eight-time All-Star and was named NL Most Valuable Player in 1999 when he hit .319 with a career-high 45 home runs and 110 RBIs. He stole 25 bases.

Jones, 53, was part of the Braves teams that won 14 consecutive division crowns from 1991 to 2005 and a World Series title in 1995. The No. 1 overall pick of the 1990 MLB Draft, Jones hit .303 with 468 homers and 1,623 RBIs in his career. He was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 2018.

Grissom played a big role in the Braves’ 1995 championship, stealing 29 bases and winning the third of his four consecutive Gold Gloves that season.

Now 58, Grissom played for six teams in a career that spanned from 1989 to 2005. His stop in Cleveland in 1997 was his only stint with an American League team.

The coaching staff will include some Atlanta stars of yesteryear. Among them are Hall of Fame member Fred McGriff and two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy, who will join Grissom’s AL staff, and five-time All-Star Andruw Jones and four-time All-Star Tim Hudson. The latter two will serve as the hitting coach and the pitching coach, respectively, for the National League.

Many big-name major leaguers played in the Futures Game. Among them are Alfonso Soriano, who played in the inaugural game in 1999, plus Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander, Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, Kyle Schwarber and Shea Langeliers.