"David Ortiz, meet Andruw Jones.

He's walked in your shoes.

Jones is a 10-time Gold Glove center fielder who made his mark with the Atlanta Braves, flopped with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is now trying to resurrect his career at 32 with the exciting Texas Rangers, who will be at Fenway tonight for the start of a three-game series after dropping two of three to the Yankees, including yesterday's 8-6 setback.

Jones lost his stroke in his final year in Atlanta in 2007, and last season in Los Angeles he hit .158 and battled weight problems and injuries after signing a two-year, $36.2 million deal with the Dodgers. Jones's agent, Scott Boras, negotiated an exit from Los Angeles, where the sentiment toward Jones by fans had become oppressive.

Jones, hitting .278 with five homers in 14 RBIs in a platoon role, has begun to slump again - 2 for 14 with six strikeouts in his last three games and .240 over his last 11 to go from .340 to .278. Looking back on last season, Jones, who hit 51 homers for the Braves in 2005, can feel for Ortiz.

"I know David, but I don't know him well enough to talk to him, but I understand what's going on in his head right now," Jones said yesterday at Yankee Stadium. "The first thing you have to look at, is he hurt? He loves the game. He loves to play. If he's not hurt then he's just pressing a little too much. He's probably just trying to do too much because you just don't lose it that quick. Whatever he did in the past he's not doing, so he's got to get back to doing what he did so many years in a row."

Jones, like Ortiz, spent many hours in the batting cage and watching video of his swing, but could never bring what he thought he corrected in the cage to the game. Jones is now working with what many baseball people feel is the best hitting coach in the game, Rudy Jaramillo, who certainly has helped.

"David was in a better situation than I was because he's been in Boston for many years," said Jones. "They love him there. Even if he flies out or strikes out, people still cheer for him. It was a different situation [in LA], every time I struck out I'd be hearing boos. It was a little tougher situation than he was in. Once he gets going he's going to be the same David Ortiz that he is."

Like Ortiz, Jones heard people say, "Is he all done?"

"You can't worry too much about what people say," said Jones. "If you do, you just press a little more. You just have to relax and let things happen.""